If you fall, I will catch you
by Misstarry
Summary: Marth has a crush on Roy, who is known for not taking relationships seriously. Ike on the other hand loves Marth unconditionally. But when Marth gets terribly ill, everything changes...
1. Reality hurts

It was still early in the morning when Ike hit the trail to the kitchen. This summer, the weather was extremely hot and he really wanted to train a bit in the cooler morning hours before the afternoon brawls started, in order to clear his mind.

For some time past, there had been only one person there – Prince Marth. He was the cause of Ike's sleepless nights and whose constant mental absence. His thoughts just wouldn't stop whirling around Marth. He didn't only admire his calm, friendly and polite attitude, but also his skills during the fights. Marth seemed to have his body under perfect control all the time. His sword, Falchion, was like his extended arm. He was just so graceful.

Ike sighed longingly. _''You really love fighting, don't you...''_, he thought. Up until now, the mercenary had only fought in order to subsist on the scanty payment that he received for doing this weird job. Being a mercenary meant living a lonely life.

''Well, but eventually, I'm here now'', he noticed with a content smile, as he entered Smash Mansion's kitchen. Not only the kitchen but the whole mansion was arranged beautifully and generously. Master Hand really knew how to look after his tournament participants. Apart from many common rooms like, for example, the library, various recreation refuges, and several training- and sparring rooms, every brawler had their own apartment available.

Also, because of the mainly nice participants, Ike had slowly started to take pleasure in the fights. Besides, there was still...

''Good morning, Ike!'' Ike flinched as he heard a certain prince's light, clear voice. He quickly opened the refrigerator's door and started searching frantically for something to eat in order to disguise his surprised facial expression, for it was really rare for Marth to show

up that early at the breakfast table.

''Heeyyy, already awake?'', he asked with faked insignifance. Ike really wasn't that much of an actor, that's what he just realised. While he was digging out some bread, butter and a half-empty bottle of orange juice, Marth answered his question.

''Hmm-mh. Roy and I intended to train together this morning.''

Ouch. Ike did not like this name. He did not like it at all.

Leaning on the stove, Ike flushed down his frustration with a huge sip of juice before he could say something wrong. ''Awesome'', he commented instead with a faked smile.

He sat down a bit offside from Marth on the big table where about every brawler had their place. Anyway, this morning, there were only Ike, Marth and the awkward silence.

By all means, Ike thought it was acridly unpleasant, while the prince only sipped his tea quietly.

He was in good spirits today, since he was looking forward to sparring with Roy.

''Roy...'', Marth thought, smiling dreamily.

''Roy...'', Ike thought with distaste. He smeared the butter on his bread with much more strain than needed.

Not even five minutes had passed when Roy walked into the kitchen. ''Hello Marth...'', Roy winked at Marth's direction with a charming smile. Ike's just eaten up bread threatened to leave his stomach immediately. He knew that this was SO fake.

''R-Roy...'' Marth's eyes on the other hand sparkled brighter than every single star on the night sky. ''Are you ready, Marth?'', Roy asked, still smiling.

''Yes! If you just allow me to put this away!'', the prince jumped off his chair and put his tea set inside the dishwasher within seconds. Then he turned towards Ike one last time. ''See you later!'', he shouted wavingly with the prettiest hue of red on his cheeks Ike had ever seen. He just nodded absently and watched the two of them as they left the kitchen.

Yes, sometimes life was indeed gruesome.

''Why? WHY?!'', Ike pondered as he hit a pretty beaten-up wooden block with his sword Ragnell over and over again. It was already midday, the sun was burning down on Ike stronger than ever. He didn't care anymore. The only thing he cared about right now was the fact that a person like Marth deserved better than a prick like Roy. God, about EVERYONE would be better than the redhead. Even a blind man could see that Roy was only using him.

But when Ike remembered how happy Marth looked as soon as he saw Roy... That was the only thing that kept him from treating Roy just in the same way he treated this wooden block.

''May I learn the reason for this mindless destruction?'', Ike suddenly heard a soft, female voice behind him. ''Zelda'', he identified it and turned towards her completely covered in sweat, ''I'm...just practicing. For my fight this afternoon.'', he gasped and smiled reassuringly.

''Apparently'', Link's girlfriend commented while striding towards him.

''Ike'', she began anew, this time with a worried undertone in her voice. ''Link and I, we have been worrying about you lately. You are an important friend of ours. We can clearly see that something is wrong with you.'' ''That's nice of you guys, Zelda, but I'm perfectly f-''

''You can't lie to me.'', she calmly interrupted him. After that, he just let out a resigned sigh.

''I see...'', he mumbled and sat down on the desiccated grass. Zelda followed suit.

''It's Roy...I think he's just using Marth for his...perverse fantasies.'', he spat out loathingly.

After a long pause, the princess eventually asked: ''So, why would you care?''

''I love him!'', Ike screamed upset. When he noticed just what he had just said, he immediately covered his mouth in shock.

''...But Marth loves Roy.", the Hylian added sadly. She knew that Ike was about the nicest guy in the world -apart from Link of course-, but if Marth really liked Roy this much, there was nothing Ike could change about it.

''I know. I know that...'', he whispered. Zelda saw a tear sparkle in Ike's eye and lowered her head. ''Listen, Ike, this is going to be awfully hard for you, but sill...'', Zelda said with a brittle voice that didn't suit her at all, ''...if you really want Marth to be happy, you'll have to let him stay with Roy. I know that you are a treasured friend to Marth, and it would break his heart if you were against their relationship. He would be extremely disappointed in you.''

Several minutes of silence elapsed. Then, suddenly everything burst out of Ike. ''Zelda'', he sobbed, but held back the tears, ''I know you're right but...but...that bastard is going to hurt him! I can sense this!''

Zelda remained silent, but deep down, she agreed with Ike so much.

But she couldn't say that. If she did, Ike was definitely going to do something to Roy which would never be an appropriate solution to this drama.

Instead, she put her hand on Ike's shoulder, offering him wordless comfort.

Ike was just gazing into the distance emptily.

Both friends remained like that until Link showed up. He instantly noticed the melancholic mood. ''Zelda, Ike...the afternoon brawls have just begun.'', he informed them as cautiously as possible.

The princess nodded and walked over to Link, so as to gently stroke his cheek. ''Darling'', she whispered so quietly that only their delicate Hylian ears were able to catch it. ''It's about Ike. He loves Marth. But Marth is enamored with...Roy.'' ''Roy?!'', Link repeated quietly, ''Doesn't Marth know that he just wants...well, sex?'' ''Apparently he doesn't. We'll talk about it later, sweetheart.'', Zelda answered sorrowfully. ''I just can't keep on watching our friend suffer like this any longer. And Marth...poor Marth. He seems like such a sweet and quiet guy. But so naive...''

Link just nodded in silent agreement.


	2. He doesn't see me

Zelda, Link and Ike arrived at the stadium when almost all of the brawlers were at the fighters' tribune already. To Ike's resentment, only Marth and Roy were missing. He started worrying immediately.

''I hope he didn't try anything weird on Marth'', he quietly told Zelda, ''or else I am no longer guaranteeing for his health.'' She just smiled at that. ''Ike, you do notice that you are as protective over Marth as a doe over her fawn, don't you?''

''I'm not being over-protective!'', he grumbled. ''I didn't say it wasn't justifiable.'', Zelda defended her statement. Their argument was suddenly interrupted when Link shouted, ''Oh, look who's coming!''

Grinning proudly, Roy walked towards the tribune with his arm loosely slung around Marth's waist.

Ike gasped in shock. He didn't know it would happen THAT fast. His heart stung painfully and he sat down quickly. ''Where do you want to sit, sweetie?'', Ike heard Roy's smooth voice.

Marth just shrugged, seemingly insecure and nervous. ''Alright, then let's sit over there.'' The redhead pointed towards the empty seat next to Ike. ''Fuck.'', Ike thought, looking extremely disgusted.

Marth nodded faraway. Roy pulled him towards the seat when the prince suddenly noticed something. ''Umm...Roy? There's only one seat...''

''So...?'', he replied with a wide smirk on his face. After sitting down, he just tapped on his lap. Marth's face was now entirely crimson, but he sat down on Roy's lap anyway.

''You gotta be fucking kidding me.'', was all that Ike was able to think right now, while he sank even deeper into his seat, hoping it would somehow pull him into some strange vortex and into another dimension, so he didn't have to endure this torture. But it was most likely that something like that wasn't going to happen.

After five dreadful minutes of having to watch Roy touching Marth inappropriately, which seemed like hours to Ike, Master Hand finally declared the start of the battles through loud speakers.

''Ladies and Gentlemen! Thank you for visiting our tournament.'', his voice echoed throughout the whole stadium, ''I hope you will enjoy yourselves watching today's brawls. Let me now announce our first battle: PIT VERSUS LINK!''

The audience started cheering loudly and he watched Link and Pit leave the fighters' tribune in the direction of the big, floating stage in the centre of the stadium. Stage and tribune were connected through an extendible bridge and big screens showed the two of them as they made their way towards the battle.

The Hylian and the angel were pretty good buddies who liked to practice together a lot, so everyone expected this to be a fair fight.

Ike donated them all of his attention and tried not to look at the couple to his left, and even though he was still pretty upset, he managed to follow the fight and ignored whatever Marth and Roy were doing.

Pit was pretty strong today, while Link didn't seem to be as good as he usually was. After a few minutes, Pit threw Link off the stage and cheered childishly at his victory.

During the next two hours, Ike did his best to focus on the battles instead of Marth. He had managed to put himself in a trance-like state in which he didn't seem to think about anything, his mind was completely blank. The prince on the other hand didn't seem to pay attention to anything besides Roy.

''Hopefully, you have been entertained during those incredible fights!'', Master Hand's voice sounded through the speakers, ''And now, let's watch the last brawl for today: IKE VERSUS MARTH!''

Suddenly, both of them snapped out of their dazes. ''What?!'', Ike mumbled, ''Crap, I can't do this.''

''I-Ike?'', Marth suddenly said while jumping up from Roy's lap, ''I am so sorry! I didn't notice you were sitting right there. Please excuse my ignorance! I didn't even greet you properly! Umm...umm Good day to you!'', he babbled frantically.

Ike just blinked in confusion. ''No, no it's alright.'', he then smiled sincerely as he also arose from his seat, ''And good day to you, too.''

Roy watched them both as they just stood there, looking at each other awkwardly. ''Enough!'', he thought angrily and stood up. How dare he talk to that filthy...person Ike and not paying any attention to him?! Right now, Roy was beyond jealous.

''Marth'', he purred seductively, leaning towards his ear, ''I want you to... Kick. His. Ass''

Murmuring that, Roy licked his ear a little to strengthen his request.

''Roy!!!'', Marth yelped shockedly, ''Ike...he's my friend!'' Roy just chuckled at that and sat down again with crossed arms.

Ike stood there with his jaw dropped.

''IKE AND MARTH!'', Master Hand yelled into the speaker in a loud voice, ''Please come to the stage IMMEDIATELY!''

They both winced. ''Uh...let's go'', Ike suggested and walked over to the extendible bridge.

''Yeah'', Marth agreed and quickly followed him.

As they reached the platform, they positioned themselves on the opposite sides.

Then, the swordsmen raised their blades up in the air as to salute their opponent. The countdown began.

3... ''I can't hurt Marth. I love him...''

...2... ''I don't want to fight Ike. He's my friend...''

...1... ''I hope Marth loses to that Ike. Then I can offer him my..comfort...''

GO!

Ike and Marth just stood there for a few seconds, motionless. Then, they finally decided to start the fight. It had to be done as it is. Hesitating wouldn't get them anywhere.

It was a heated battle from the beginning on. But even though their skills were impressive, they never really aimed for critical hits in order to not hurt the other.

Their blades clashed for about six minutes, when Ike noticed that Marth's motions were getting sloppy all of a sudden. He frowned. Ike had never seen Marth fight so clumsily, for he had always admired his grace.

Only a few sword strokes later, Marth completely froze. His eyes looked incredibly empty as he dropped his sword.

The crowd gasped in surprise. It was almost too late for Ike to interrupt his attack, but luckily, he managed to stop it so that Marth wouldn't get hurt.

''Marth! What's wrong?'', Ike shouted worriedly. ''I..I c-can't see...'', Marth stuttered with fear in his voice. Trembling, he clutched Ike and sank to the ground with him.

''MARTH!'', Ike screamed, but the prince couldn't hear him.

The fight had been cancelled. Doctor Mario and Sister Peach hurried to them to check if Marth was breathing properly and took his blood pressure. ''He said he couldn't see, Mario!'', Ike shouted, ''He couldn't see anymore!'' Mario nodded and continued putting the unconscious Marth on a stretcher with the help of Peach. ''Don't worry, Ike'', the sweet Princess soothed him, ''I'm sure he'll be fine. Marth has a low blood pressure. Combined with the incredible heat we have this summer, and maybe a lack of fluid, it must have led to this incident.''

Ike still looked really worried. ''It's all right. He's just really exhausted'', Doctor Mario reassured him, ''We still have to keep him in the infirmary until he recovers.''

''May I come along?'' Peach and Mario looked at each other and then agreed as they saw Ike's concerned expression.


	3. Distrust

It was late at night when Marth finally woke up in the infirmary. Of course, he had no idea where he was, but he quickly realized this wasn't his bed. The prince blinked a little. His vision was blurry and there were those black spots all over the room that didn't seem to go away, even if he shut his eyes tightly and then opened them again.

Then, he finally recognized a figure sitting to his right. Could it be Roy? Marth didn't know whether or not to ask who it was since the person seemed to be sleeping. But he wanted to know what on earth was going on!

''Roy...'', he finally dared asking. No reply. ''Roy?'', he talked a little louder this time, and the figure shifted slightly in its seat as it awoke.

''...Yeah..'', Roy murmured. As he saw his crush, Marth's lips turned into a smile. But then he remembered that he needed to know why he wasn't resting peacefully in his own bed. ''What happened? Where am I?'', he demanded.

Roy stretched his arms and yawned loudly. ''You...kind of..collapsed...now you're in the infirmary..'' The prince was utterly confused now. ''What? Collapsed?! Why? I NEVER collapse! In my whole life, I have nev-'', he ranted. ''...Yeah whatever.'', the redhead interrupted him, ''But you did. During your match with Ike. No idea what the hell he was doing to you...'' Marth was shocked. Ike would never hurt him! Or would he?

He didn't really know what to say then, but he supposed it wasn't necessary anymore since Roy had fallen asleep again. As he listened to him breathing evenly, Marth's gloomy expression turned into a gentle smile and he decided to go to sleep again, too. Maybe the annoying black spots would also go away if he rested a bit.

Ike sat on his window still, sleeplessly. The night air felt mild and the moon was covered by thick clouds. He had really wanted to stay with Marth, but it was impossible for him to be in the same room as Roy. However, that didn't really matter to Ike now, he was only concerned about Marth's health. He remembered Doctor Mario's diagnose. A heatstroke? He just couldn't get over it. Marth was a tough fighter, and even though he might seem a little sensitive, he didn't just faint for no reason. And in the middle of a fight, too.

Pondering madly, Ike knew it was most likely that he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

He just needed to know if Marth was fine. Therefore, he decided to check up on him in the infirmary. Walking out of his room quietly in order to not wake up anyone, he set out for the hospital ward.

At first, Ike walked slowly, but before he had realized, he was running as fast as he could.

Not paying attention to anything, he accidentally bumped into Mario, who was coming right out of the infirmary. ''Mamma mia!'', he shouted surprised as he looked up at the taller swordsman, ''What are you doing here in the middle of the night, Ike?'' ''Sorry, Mario...'', Ike excused himself, ''I just wanted to make sure Marth is okay.''

The doctor rubbed his head since it still hurt from the impact. ''Well, alright, but...we take good care of him, you know.'', with that he opened the door and led Ike inside the room. Marth lay in his bed with an infusion attached to his arm.

''He'll recover, won't he?'', Ike whispered while he stepped towards his friend's bed.

Mario just nodded. ''For sure. You shouldn't worry so much, Ike. The heat can affect even the strongest of fighters. By tomorrow, Marth will be fit as a fiddle. Trust me.''

There was a long silence between them before Ike eventually answered. ''Okay'', he simply said as he realized that there was nothing he could do now, ''Good night, doctor.'' With that, Ike turned around and walked towards the door. ''Night, Ike'', Mario replied.

Maybe he was really just freaking out because Marth meant so much to him. That was natural, right?

Somehow, Ike had managed to catch some sleep after seeing Marth. When he woke up at seven the next morning, he didn't even feel that tired. Actually, he was up and about, and he was definitely going to visit Marth, whether Roy liked it or not. Ike was his friend, too, and he had the right to see if he was fine again. After taking a shower and eating his obligatory buttered bread, he quickly walked over to the infirmary.

When he walked into the room, Marth was already sitting on the edge of his bed, combing his hair fiercely. Roy didn't seem to be there. ''Good morning, Marth, how do you feel?'', he asked. Marth just looked at him angrily. ''I know we had to fight the battle, but why did you have to knock me out? It would have been enough to just push me off the stage!'', he shouted, ''I thought we were friends!''

Ike was completely confused. ''What the hell are you talking about, Marth? I didn't knock you out!'', he defended himself, ''Besides, even if I did, why would you be THAT angry? You're so calm usually!''

''Oh, of course! So YOU knock me out first, and then blame ME for being mad at you? And all that just because I'm usually a calm person?!'', Marth screamed.

''You're twisting my words!'', Ike tried to keep his voice down, ''And once again, I did NOT knock you out. Where did you even get that from? I'd never hurt you.''

Marth was totally enraged. ''SHUT UP! Roy told me!'' Ike froze. Roy was telling Marth lies about him? How dare he?! Great, now Ike had to repair the damage. He took a deep breath and then sat down next to Marth. ''Please calm down, Marth.'', he tried to soothe him by putting his hands on his shoulders. ''Let me explain...You suddenly dropped your sword and told me that you couldn't see anymore. Then you sank to the ground and fainted. You had a heatstroke.'' Marth looked completely puzzled now. ''Why would Roy lie to me?''

''Why would I lie to you?'' The prince looked into his eyes for a long time. Ike saw hurt, distrust and confusion in Marth's eyes while he was still just shocked by his outburst of fury.

''I...I...why did I...'', Marth stuttered, ''...just yell at you like that? Ike, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!'' Tears came streaming down his face. ''And now I'm crying!! What's wrong with me?'', he sobbed. Ike didn't know what to say. He had never seen Marth cry, for he was always such an enthusiastic person. It was like his personality had been switched! Well, he had to cheer him up somehow.

''Dude, don't cry...'', Ike tried to joke, ''...you look like a girl.''

Success! Marth started to giggle a bit at first, before he totally burst into laughter while he was still crying. Ike decided that he looked totally adorable right now, so he joined the laughter.

Once they calmed down a bit, Ike suggested him that he could go ask Doctor Mario and Sister Peach if he still didn't believe him, but Marth refused. ''No. I believe you. But I need to talk to Roy...'', he decided. With that, he said goodbye to Ike, stood up and went away. When Ike saw Marth stagger a bit as he walked out of the infirmary, he frowned.

_''Mario said he'd be perfectly fine by today.''_, he recalled.

Just moments later, Ike also stood up and left the hospital ward. He didn't really know where to go now since he didn't feel like training or talking to anyone, so decided to go for a little walk.

It had been months since he last went out simply to take a stroll. And that even if the scenery was really magnificent here. Lost in thoughts, he chose some random path which led him to a huge, beautiful field of barley. It seemed endless, and Ike looked at it in awe.

Just when had all this stuff grown? It had always been there, behind the mansion, right before his eyes. Yet, he had never noticed it before.

As he walked into the field, he let go of all his sorrow for a moment. Just for a moment, he wanted to be free. The summer air felt nice and warm, the crickets chirped happily and there were fluffy white clouds painted on the blue sky.

''Someday, I'll take you to this place, Marth'', he shouted into the field, ''We still have plenty of time!''


	4. Master of lies

Marth stood in front of Roy's door. Even though he wanted to know why he had lied to him, the prince didn't want to upset him. So he ended up standing there for quite a while, torn between to knock or not to knock. Just the second he had lifted his hand in order to finally do it, the door was thrown open violently. There he stood. Right in front of him. Flashing this perfect, cool, awesome smile that Marth had fallen in love with. And yet, he intended to blame him for lying to him. Still, he wanted to know why he would tell him something wrong about his friend Ike.

Confused as he was, Marth just blinked as he look up at Roy with his hand still in the air, ready to knock against the now invisible door. When he finally decided that it was time to say something, he just made a really weird noise which sounded like a mixture between a sheep and a duck. Noticing how stupid he probably looked right now, he blushed as if he wanted to compete with strawberries.

Roy couldn't help but chuckle at this delightful sight. Marth never ceased to amaze him with his adorability. How could a guy even be permitted to be so sweet? Smirking widely, he pulled him into a tight embrace. ''You're so cute, Marthy...'', he hummed while caressing his cheek. Marth thought he was dreaming. That couldn't be true, could it? Why was he here, anyway? In Roy's room...Oh right! IKE!

Snapping out of his daze, Marth pushed Roy away and looked at him in embarrassment. ''Well, I-I'm not! And why did you lie to me, anyway?'' Roy just sighed. _''Dammit. I was SO close, for god's sake!''_, he thought angrily. As he saw how disappointed Roy looked, Marth felt pretty bad for destroying that kind of moment. ''I'm sorry...'', he mumbled with his eyes to the floor.

Roy contemplated the situation for a second. _''So Marth feels deceived because he found out that I lied to him. Therefore he has lost his faith in me, which means I have to somehow regain his trust somehow if I wish to progress any further.''_, Roy mused. Then he pondered a little bit before he came to THE conclusion. _''It's never too late to play the good old jealousy card!''_ Feeling like a total genius, he started to get out of his first lie with another, more developed lie. How clever!

''No. That should be my line, Marth.'', he said with perfectly dosed fake remorse within his voice, ''I lied to you...and there is no excuse for something that cruel.'' _''Maybe looking away in shame now would be a good idea...''_ No sooner thought than done!

''I was jealous...of Ike'', he sighed, ''You two seem so close...I usually don't do stuff like that. But I wanted you to notice me...'' _''LIE! Ha ha!''_ Marth looked shocked. ''Roy...I never knew that...that it meant so much to you...'', he stammered, ''Ike and I...we're just friends, really. Nothing more.'' Marth hoped that Roy would believe him. He was right. They did seem very close, but he really didn't harbor any romantic feelings for Ike.

''Is that true? If it were, I'd be so glad because...'', Roy interspersed a happy little smile right there, ''...I love you.''

And that was Roy's favorite lie.

''Wha...whaa...'', Marth whimpered. This couldn't be real. Certainly, he was still in the infirmary and would wake up soon. Yes, that must be the case!

But when he felt Roy's arms around him again, he knew that this wasn't a dream. He just closed his eyes and snuggled him. ''Roy I love you, too'', Marth mumbled into his shoulder, deciding that he was the luckiest person in the whole wide world right now.

_''Jackpot!''_, Roy thought with a smug grin plastered on his face, _''That wasn't too hard. He instantly swallowed it, and didn't even get suspicious a single time. How cute, my pretty little prince is just way too fucking innocent.''_

Meanwhile, Ike was still standing inside the huge, golden field. He enjoyed the warm breeze and how it made him forget his problems. Just looking up at the sky that was filled with those little puffy clouds floating about relaxed him.

He decided to lay down and watch their dance a bit longer, for it was like an addiction. In his whole life, Ike had never taken the time to just sit down and watch the clouds, because he thought he was always busy. But in fact, he was not. He just pretended to be and then pondered over things he wasn't able to change anyway. Like Marth, for example. He was in love with Roy, and Zelda was right saying that he should let him be. They were friends, therefore he should be happy for him.

Still, out of all people, why did it necessarily have to be Roy, the most selfish asshole the world had ever seen? Seriously, Ike didn't get it. What has that sneaky bastard ever done for Marth? He'd just lied to him.

''And I thought I could be carefree for a second...'', Ike said to himself.

It was like a curse. Marth just wouldn't leave his mind. He assumed that even if they were a couple, he would always think of him. There was nothing he could do, no escape.

It was around the minute he had decided that for the millionth time, when suddenly a black little spot appeared at the horizon. Ike sat up and narrowed his eyes. ''That thing is approaching awfully fast...'', he thought, ''Probably just some hawk or...eagle or whatever these things are called.'' With that, he simply went back to cloud watching and lost focus of the bird.

He could not ignore the thing when it was only about ten meters away, though, and came flying right into Ike's direction. It was a white mass, and it squealed ''Weeeeeeeeeee'', as it crashed into Ike violently.

''PIT! What the hell, man?!'', Ike shouted. The little angel flinched.

''HELL?! DON'T SAY HELL IKE IT'S EVIL! I'VE BEEN THERE IT'S EVIL!!!'', Pit yelled loudly, rocking back and forth, traumatized as he was. ''Sorry'', Ike apologized before realizing where the angel was sitting. ''Get off me.'', he then said annoyed and shoved him off his lap. ''But, but IKE! We're FRIENDS!'', he whined. ''Who decided that?'', Ike retorted and looked at him angrily. Pit was probably the only creature in the entire universe he was okay being rude to. Because if you were nice to him, he would just go on and on about how much he loved you. Link probably had the nerve for that, but Ike certainly did not. It wasn't that he didn't like Pit or something, he was just annoying sometimes.

''Don't you think it's kind of ironic that an angel, a deliverer of peace and tranquility, keeps disturbing me in the most inappropriate moments?'' Pit seemed to think about it for a little while. When he still looked quite clueless after two minutes, Ike answered for him. ''Yes, Pit. You DO think it's ironic.'' He didn't react to that.

Instead, he just screamed: ''Let's play a game!'' incoherently. Ike had noticed that the boy became pretty woozy when he was confused, yet confusing him was the only way to shut him up. He kind of reminded Ike of a Furby, for some odd reason.

''I'm not playing a game with you.'', Ike grumbled. Pit looked pretty depressed now. He liked playing games with Ike, but he didn't seem happy at all today. ''Ike, why are you sad?'', he asked a tad bit more seriously now. ''I'm not. And even if I was, I wouldn't tell you why.'', Ike replied. Now the angel was really disappointed. ''But I love you!'', Pit whined.

''No, you don't. You don't even know what that means.''

''Sure I do! If you love someone, you are friends with them and play with them and sing with them and draw with them and-'' ''No.'', Ike interrupted him, ''That's not love. That's friendship.''

Pit looked confused again. ''What's the difference?'', he asked childishly. Ike just sighed and threw his hands up in horror. ''Piiiiit, stop bothering me with that kind of stuff. You're too young. I can't tell you.'' ''But-but IKE! I'll never grow old! Please tell me! Tell me! Tell me!'' The boy bounced up and down as if his curiosity was itching him.

Well, what should he do now? He could easily chase Pit away but...would that be fair? Rather not. So he decided to answer him, but when he opened his mouth, he didn't know what to say. Actually, he had thought of telling him about men and women, kissing and everything. However, was that really what love meant? At least he didn't think so. His name was Ike, not Roy. To Roy, love was most likely just sex. A game, nothing more. Ike detested that. But what was true love? Where was the difference between love and friendship?

It took him a long time before he finally answered Pit's question. ''You'll know the difference when you feel _it_ for the first time.'' Putting a very meaningful emphasis into the _it_, he locked eyes with the angel for moment. ''You'll find out soon enough when you find _that_ person.'' Therewith, Ike stood up and left, Pit was still sitting in the field and obviously didn't intend to follow him.

Even if he didn't know what _it_ meant, himself, Ike was pretty sure that he had felt it before. He felt _it _all the time. And he also knew that _it _wasn't all about kissing.

Because someday, you'll get tired of kissing.

Without _it_, there will be nothing left to love then.


	5. Exchanged

Roy was incredibly proud of himself. ''That was much easier than I expected.'', he thought as he held Marth in a tight embrace. To him, it was just too amusing how the prince had believed him immediately. Roy looked down at him and saw him snuggling his shoulder and smiling serenely. ''He's totally a virgin'', he figured with a smug grin. ''In that case, I'll have to take it slow.'' Planning his next step, he patted Marth's head reassuringly. It didn't take very long until he got his next idea.

It was when suddenly a sly smirk crept upon his face that he had come up with another, excellent plan to seduce his little princeling. Roy's hand wandered from his head to Marth's cheek. He carefully lifted his face so that he could look into his eyes.

''Marthy...how about something to eat?'', the redhead asked while gazing piercingly into his teal colored eyes.

Marth blushed furiously. Never before had Roy looked at him that way. With such intensity. It was like he was staring into his soul or something like that. He was sure that he had just asked him something, but he couldn't remember anymore. Right now, only Roy's beautiful eyes mattered to him. So he just nodded slowly in a trance-like state. It didn't matter what he just said or asked. At this moment, Marth would have agreed with anything.

''Cool'', Roy stated and pulled away. Yes, indeed. He just couldn't wait to finally get it on with his prince. Then he set off to the door. Just about when he had reached the doorknob, he realized that Marth didn't follow him. He was standing there...staring at him with dreamy eyes. How amusing. Roy chuckled and then took his hand. ''Come with me!'', he said and pulled him out of his room. They quickly walked the corridors down to the kitchen, Marth trying hard to keep up with his crush's fast pace.

''Finally'', Roy sighed and threw the door open. To Marth's disappointment, he let go of his hand as he walked into the room. Still, the prince continued to follow him. ''Alright, Marthy, I thought we could have some fruits with-'', Roy suddenly stopped talking and didn't walk any further. Marth peeked over his shoulder to see what the cause of this abrupt stop was. Much to his surprise, he looked directly into Ike's eyes. To be honest, he didn't look like what he would call pleased. ''Ike...?'', he asked cautiously.

There was no reply. Instead, Ike just stood up and turned to face Roy. His eyes burned with rage. ''I don't know what filthy lies you told him this time'', he shouted, ''But if you hurt him, I will never forgive you!'' Roy stared at him with all his hate. Oh, how he'd like to just kill him right now. That goddamn mercenary had just destroyed ANOTHER chance to finally have some fun with Marth. Goddamn it! What the hell was it with that ass?!

''IKE!'', Marth suddenly yelled, ''I'm sick and tired of this! What do you have against us being together?'' He stepped in front of Roy. ''You just keep on doing stuff to break us apart!'', he screamed, eyes watery with tears of anger, ''I LOVE HIM! If you can't accept that, I no longer see a reason in our friendship!''

With that, he grabbed Roy's face, pulled it down, and kissed him fiercely.

''Now that was very interesting'', Roy thought and smirked into the kiss, ''Who knew that my calm little princeling was such a high-spirited fellow?''

There it was again. This bad, foreboding feeling that Ike was having earlier this morning, when Marth had shouted at him for the first time. It felt like he had turned into an entirely different person in the blink of an eye. Ike didn't recognize him anymore. Formerly, he would NEVER have done something like this. He had always been such a nice, sweet, and polite person. He simply wouldn't act with such aggression. It didn't fit.

Ike stood there, completely frozen, watching them with hurt and disgust. How could this be what Marth wanted?

Eventually, Marth pulled away from Roy. ''I want some fruits now.'', he commanded and walked over to the table, aiming for the seat that was the farest away from Ike, who was still standing next to his chair, looking baffled. ''Sure, Marthy...'', Roy grinned at Ike's direction, speaking in a voice that dripped with venom and faked kindness. Then he went to the refrigerator where he pulled out a bowl of fruits. There were strawberries, bananas oranges and some others in there and he was already imagining in which way he would make his prince eat them. After putting the bowl on the sideboard, he started searching for the sugar, opening and closing several cupboards.

Meanwhile, Ike watched Marth as he tried to sit down clumsily. His movements weren't as fluid as usual, at all. Seeing the prince move so ungracefully was beyond strange. When he attempted to pull the chair back, he suddenly stumbled over it and fell into the seat next to him with a loud CRASH.

''Marth!'', Ike instantly ran towards him, ''Are you okay?'' He helped him getting onto his feet again. ''I'm...fine'', Marth murmured, looking away in shame. ''Why do you even care anymore...'', he spoke quietly, ''I yelled at you. Again. And still, you help me. Why?'' Ike blushed barely noticeable. Before he answered, he took a deep breath.

''M-Marth...I'm worried about you.'', Ike answered sincerely, ''You've been acting weird lately.'' ''Have I?'', Marth asked confused. ''You...you're having mood swings all the time'', Ike stated cautiously, as not to hurt the prince's feelings, ''You're also aggressive and you move clumsily. You even collapsed!'' Marth instantly contradicted, ''It was because of the heat!''

''You're supposed to be completely healthy by today! Yet you just fell down!'', Ike said urgently, ''Please go to the doctor with me.'' Marth just stared at the floor in order to avoid looking into Ike's worried eyes. He knew he was right. But he just didn't want to accept this. He was a swordsman, a healthy fighter, and NOT a weakling. He couldn't be ill.

After a long pause, he simply shook his head slowly but unequivocal. ''Please!'', Ike begged, but there was no reaction. ''If you go, I'll never say anything bad about you and Roy being a couple again.'' Marth hesitantly looked into Ike's eyes. ''No...'', he whispered firmly. ''Why not?'', Ike asked him.

''Because I...beacause...'', Marth stuttered with a shaky voice, ''I'm...I'm scared.''

Ike looked at him sadly. ''I'm scared, too. But I just can't stop worrying about you. You're...I mean...I lo-'' ''Marthy! Where's the sugar?!'', Roy yelled loudly with his head stuck inside a cupboard. Marth flinched. ''Umm...umm...'', Marth pondered. ''In the upper left one.'', Ike quietly told him. ''Oh right!'', Marth shouted, his voice still trembling a bit, ''The upper left.''

''Alright! I've got it!'', Roy announced, emerging from the cupboard with the sugar in his hand. His eyes narrowed when he saw Marth talking to Ike. Didn't he just have a fight with him? And now he was talking to him again...

Roy took the fruit bowl and the sugar and walked over to Marth. ''I'm done.'', he said and looked at Marth. The prince didn't reply. He was just staring at...nothing. Roy waved his hand in front of his face, but he didn't react, neither did his eyes. The redhead just sighed and sat down at the table.

''What the hell, man!'', Ike shouted angrily at him, ''Can't you see he's having a seizure?!''

''Whatever'', Roy grumbled. Ike now looked seriously enraged. ''I'm not watching this any longer. I'm taking him to the doctor. Now.'' With that, he carefully gripped Marth at the hollow of his knee with one arm and slung the other under his shoulders. Then, he lifted him up and stabled his head through resting it against his chest.

''I'm sorry Marth.'', he mumbled as he walked out of the kitchen. Ike could have sworn he had heard a soft whimper coming from Marth.

It didn't even take two minutes until they had reached the infirmary. The doors were already open, so Ike just walked in there. All of the four beds were empty, so he walked over to one and put Marth on it. It scared him to see the person he loved and admired in such a state. He was completely motionless, just spacing off. Obviously, it was a seizure of absence, even an idiot like Roy could have diagnosed that. How could he just say ''Whatever'' to something this serious? Who the hell had mistreated him as a child to make him THAT cold hearted?!

Ike gently squeezed Marth's hand. ''Don't worry. I'm sure someone will come and help you in a minute.'', he soothed him. He wasn't exactly sure whether Marth could hear him or not, but it was worth a try. Besides, Ike needed to calm himself down a bit. He kept on telling Marth that someone would come, but when after about three minutes still no one had come, Ike was growing impatient. Normally, there was always someone around the infirmary. Where were those people when you needed them?

Just the second he had finished this thought, Sister Peach walked through the open infirmary doors.

''Oh! Ike, good day to you! And you brought...Marth?'', she quickly ran over to him. ''Oh my goodness! What happened to him?'', Peach shrieked, feeling his pulse. It was present, but quite weak. ''I don't know! We were talking, and then he suddenly got a seizure!'', Ike replied nervously.

''Doctor Mario will be here in a second.'', she replied, looking very worried.


	6. Premonition

The few seconds in which Doctor Mario didn't come seemed like hours to Ike. Marth still looked completely paralyzed and stared off into space without even blinking. But then, the salvation finally came through the door. ''Mario!'', Ike desperately ran towards him, ''Please help him!'' Mario seemed confused. ''Help? Who?'', he questioned, searching for that 'him' with his eyes. Then, he suddenly spotted a motionless figure on one of the beds and quickly walked over to it.

When he identified the person as Marth, Mario got suspicious. Hadn't he fully recovered from his heatstroke this morning? He had seemed so lively earlier. The doctor bent over the bed and reached out to lightly pat Marth's cheek. ''Marth'', he asked loudly, ''Can you hear me?'' There was no reaction. ''Please try to give me a sign.'' Ike tensely watched Marth's face. He realized that his before glassy eyes were starting to move a little. Then, Ike noticed that he was obviously trying to open his mouth. Finally, a strangled sound escaped Marth's lips.

''R...Ro...Roy...'', he mumbled while looking at the people around him. Why wasn't he there? And why wouldn't his body listen to him anymore? Marth tried to get up, but his legs just wouldn't move. It felt like he was tied to the bed and that scared him. Feeling trapped, he gathered all of his strength to finally get out of this place. It seemed impossible. His body had never felt so heavy before and he thought that all the energy had been sucked out of him. With one last effort, Marth finally managed to lift himself up by supporting himself with his elbows. Still, it had been so exhausting that he was tempted to fall back onto the bed again. But as he thought of Roy, he resisted the urge to lay down and completely sat up. When eventually all of his strength had returned to him, Marth moved to the edge of the bed in order to get up and go back to Roy. He tingled with the desire to see Roy again, so he quickly stood up. His mind was faster than his body, though, therefore he lost balance and fell right into Ike's arms.

''Let me go'', Marth grumbled in a hoarse voice, ''I want to see Roy...'' Ike just held him a little tighter as he heard that. He definitely wasn't going to let him leave. Even if he cried and screamed and cracked up about seeing his stupid Roy. ''I won't let you go.'', Ike said quietly but firmly. He was worried about Marth and he didn't trust Roy. What if something like that seizure happened again? Certainly, Roy wouldn't care. That idiot didn't care about Marth at all, for god's sake! How could the prince be so blind?

As Marth struggled to free himself from his grip, Ike just lifted him up and put him on the bed again. The second Ike let go of the prince, he tried to stand up and run away again, but Ike was faster. He bent over Marth and pinned his arms to the bed. ''Ike! Let me go!'', he screamed angrily. ''NO!'', Ike yelled, ''I want you to stay right there!'' Marth now used all his power against Ike, but the taller man was just way too strong for him. It was totally unfair! After all, it was his choice where he wanted to go. And right now, he wanted to go see Roy more than anything.

As he realized that he didn't stand a chance against Ike, Marth totally despaired. ''I'm warning you! Let me go or else...!'' Ike just sighed in frustration. ''Marth. I'm worried about you. Something's wrong with you.'' ''I'm perfectly fine!'', Marth screeched, ''And now let me go to Roy.''

''I am sorry, Marth'', Mario suddenly interfered, ''But we need to keep you here in order to carry out several examinations. I don't think you had a heatstroke yesterday anymore. It's something else, but I'm not sure what it is yet.'' Marth just looked at him in shock. ''NO! NO! I'm NOT ill!'', he protested, shutting his eyes tightly in rejection.

Ike sighed again and lowered his head as he gave up. He let go of Marth who opened his eyes again in surprise. Ike deeply stared into them. ''I won't force you anymore, Marth.'', he quietly told him, ''Instead, I'll beg you to stay and have the examination done. Please...do it for me. I will never ask anything of you again. But please, please stay.''

Marth returned Ike's gaze. The emotions inside his friend's eyes were simply overwhelming. He looked so sad and worried that it made Marth's heart ache. It made him feel incredibly guilty to see him like this. He was the cause of Ike's sorrow, wasn't he? And now he was acting up like a little kid, just because he wanted to see Roy. It was so ridiculous.

Much to Ike's surprise, Marth's hand slowly wandered to his in order to gently take it. Then, he just nodded silently. ''Don't leave me'', Marth whispered, ''I'm scared.'' Ike shook his head. ''I will never leave you, Marth.'', he reassured him, ''If you want me to stay, I will stay.''

Peach sobbed at the scene. That was just too adorable! The two blue swordsmen would make the cutest couple! She squealed to herself in joy. Mario on the other hand looked worried. He didn't know Marth that well, but to him, he had always seemed like a pretty easy-going person. Never had he expected such mood swings from the calm prince. The doctor pulled a chair towards the bed and sat down next to Marth. ''Alright. First off, I'll have to ask you a few questions, Marth.'' The prince nodded and looked at Mario with a tense expression on his face, clutching Ike's hand.

''When have you started to feel dizzy for no reason?'', Mario asked, ''And please answer me sincerely.'' Marth swallowed. He hadn't told anybody, but this has been going on for much longer than they thought. He had always dismissed the fact that he felt dizzy sometimes. ''...Two months.'', he mumbled. Mario wrote something down on a notepad. ''I see. Besides feeling dizzy, what other disorders have occurred to you?'' Marth hesitated a bit. He really wasn't a person who moaned about little complaints, but obviously he had to tell Doctor Mario the truth. ''I...stagger a lot...sometimes I see weird black spots...when it's really bad, everything looks really dark and I feel sick.''

Mario wrote it all down. ''Fine'', he commented, ''Sister Peach will take you to the next room and carry out a few general examinations.'' Marth looked at Ike, unsure of what to do. ''Go ahead. I will stay here.'', Ike told him and squeezed Marth's hand a bit before letting go. Then, Peach helped him up and guided him to a small room next to the beds. Even when the sliding door had closed, Ike kept looking at it. ''Ike'', Mario turned towards him, ''Please tell me about his mood swings.''

Ike looked at the doctor. ''He...sometimes it feels like his personality has been exchanged. I have only noticed this today. Before, he had always been such a calm, nice person. Now he just seems to be overreacting about everything.'', Ike answered sorrowfully, ''I don't know what's wrong with him.'' ''We'll find out very soon, Ike.'', Mario tried to calm him down. ''And I really hope my suspicions won't be confirmed.'', he added in his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Marth had sat down on a daybed, nervously looking at Peach. He had never been to such a modern doctor before he had come to Smash Mansion, therefore, he was scared of what she was going to do. When Sister Peach noticed that, she just smiled at him. ''This is all new to you, isn't it?'', she chatted while pulling out a weird looking instrument with two smaller and one bigger button. ''That's a stethoscope. I can listen to your heartbeat with it.'', Peach explained when she saw Marth's curious look. ''Really?'', he questioned, observing the thing mistrustfully. ''Really. But you have to take off your upper clothing first, please.'', she demanded. Marth blushed a bit. He had never undressed in front of someone, but he remembered that he had practically promised Ike to have the examination done, so he took off his cloak and tunic.

He curiously watched Peach as she put the smaller buttons inside of her ears and took the bigger one in her hand. She gently pushed it against his chest and Marth flinched at the feeling of cold metal. Peach just giggled at that before ordering him to take a deep breath. He did what she asked of him, even if he wondered why he had to exhale and inhale deeply. What did that have to do with his heartbeat? Once she was done, Marth shyly asked what she had heard. ''I could hear that you are really excited!'', she replied smilingly. The prince blushed again.

The rest of the examinations went off similarly awkward. Marth simply wasn't used to being touched, and the strange instruments didn't make him feel less uncomfortable.

When the sliding door finally opened again, a quite red Marth and an amused looking Peach came out of the small room. While Marth quickly sat down on the bed next to Ike again, the nurse handed Doctor Mario some documents. ''Thank you, Peach.'', he said as he studied them with a frown. Ike watched the doctor with knitted eyebrows. Soon, they would know what Marth had. Maybe he would have to take some medicine, and then he would be healthy again in a short period of time. It would be alright. He'd be fine again.

But then, Mario just shook his head. ''I can't give you a diagnose yet. It looks like we have to do further examinations'', he decided, ''Marth, would you please stand up?'' Marth fulfilled his request. ''Please walk to the door and then back to us.'' The prince looked confused. He thought he would finally be allowed to go to Roy again. Still, he followed Mario's instructions as not to disappoint Ike. The walk towards the door and back was a bit unstable since Marth staggered here and there. Then, Mario ordered him to stand on one leg, which turned out to be a very shaky issue.

Eventually, the doctor had seen enough. ''Okay. I need to do one last examination.'', he announced, ''It will be a computerized tomography, a CT.'' ''A _what_?!'', Marth and Ike burst out at the same time.

Mario remembered that the two swordsmen weren't that familiar with modern technologies, so he explained it to them as simple as possible. ''Well, it allows you to look inside one's head...I need to know if something's wrong with Marth's brain.'' The prince just blinked a little. ''What? Does that mean I'm...retarded?'', he asked, seemingly confused. ''No! No...'', Mario answered, ''I just need to make sure that you don't have a brain disease.''

''Umm...alright then.'', Marth agreed and grabbed Ike's hand again. If that was possible, Marth was even more scared than he had been before. This compurry....tomgraph or whatever it was called sounded really dangerous. Oh, how he just wished to run away now, to Roy, and hug him again. But he couldn't do that. He had endured all this stuff and now he had to finish this, for his friend.

Therefore, he followed Doctor Mario towards another door that he hadn't even noticed before, still clinging to Ike's hand. When the doctor opened the sliding door, the first thing Marth saw was a big, scary tube. Mario instructed him to take his cloak off and lay down on the thing that kind of looked like a daybed but was somehow attached to the tube. Marth hesitated and Ike noticed that his hand trembled violently. ''Marth...please be brave for one last time. You can go to Roy immediately after that.'', he soothed him. The prince nodded slowly and walked towards the tube. He took his cloak off and Ike grabbed it. When he had layed down, Doctor Mario secured his head in the device for it and told him that this would only take five minutes.

Marth got scared again when the daybed thing started to move inside the tube. But he was trapped now. The tube made a lot of noise and those five minutes stretched like chewing gum. Marth tried to endure them thinking of Roy, and strangely, it worked.

Once he was finally out of the horrible thing again, Marth froze. Mario looked beyond shocked.


	7. Broken

Marth saw Mario sitting in front of a monitor, the doctor's hand covering his mouth in shock. He noticed that the pictures of his brain were opened up and Doctor Mario stared at them disbelievingly. Marth's heart throbbed wildly. What in the world was going on? Why was Mario looking at his pictures that way? The prince quickly stood up and went over to the doctor. ''What...what is it?'', he asked nervously. Mario rubbed his face and took a deep breath. He had to tell him, and if he made Marth wait, it would only be torture to him. Therefore, the doctor gathered all of his strength to tell him the incredibly bad news.

''Marth...you have a tumor in your brain.''

Marth didn't react for a while. ''Is that...good or bad?'', he asked unnecessarily. He already knew the answer. He simply couldn't believe the truth. ''It's really bad...'', the doctor whispered, still not accepting the fact that he had just discovered something this gruesome in the prince's head. Marth tried to breathe properly, but even if he tried really hard, there seemed to be no oxygen coming in. ''Am I going to die?'', he gasped, almost choking on his own words. There was no reply.

At first, it was a small drop of water, but then it turned into a heavy rainfall. The tears rolled down his face unstoppably and Marth sank to the ground, sobbing loudly.

Ike couldn't believe what he had just heard. It was like a bad dream. A nightmare. His worst nightmare. Something bad was happening to Marth, and there was absolutely nothing he was able to do. He couldn't help him. He couldn't protect him from fate. There was nothing he could do. Ike clung to Marth's cloak and covered his face with the soft fabric as he felt that it had become wet. Why? Why did it have to be Marth? Why the kindest, most innocent person in the world? It had to be a mistake. But when Ike saw Marth down at the cold floor, he knew that it was reality.

Nothing mattered anymore. There was no Roy, no lies, no fights. Ike simply ran over to Marth and took him into his arms. He didn't know what else to do. Marth buried his face in Ike's chest and cried. If he let Ike go, he would drown in his tears. So he clutched his friend and held onto him as tightly as he could. He didn't want to die. He wanted to live, with Roy, Ike, and the sword fights. All the things he loved were on this earth. He wanted to stay here!

Ike gently stroked Marth's hair. Feelings of guilt started to build up inside of him. It felt like it was all his fault. He had been the one who hadn't given up and had made him have the examination done. If he hadn't asked him to do it, Marth would be as happy and carefree as always right now. But on the other hand...Ike couldn't change reality. It had been bound to be discovered someday. The earlier, the better. Still, Ike felt incredibly guilty. ''I'm...so sorry...'', he whispered as he kept on caressing Marth.

Suddenly, a glimmer of hope awakened in him. It couldn't be THAT serious. There had to be something that could be done. ''Doctor'', Ike said, his voice shaky from the mixed emotions of fear and hope, ''There is a cure, right?'' Mario just sighed. ''I'm not sure what kind of tumor we are dealing with. I don't know if it's spreading or not. Therefore, I can't tell you yet. But it doesn't look like it's completely hopeless.''

Ike lightly shook Marth's shoulders. ''Did you hear that? There is hope. You don't have to cry anymore, Marth!'', he tried to cheer him up, but it didn't work. Carefully, he detached Marth from himself and took his face into his hands as to look him in the eyes. The prince gasped and tears kept streaming down his face. Ike tenderly wiped them away.

''Let's go to Roy.'', Ike suggested, lifting his friend from the floor and supporting him, so he could stand on his own feet. ''I..I w-want to...g-go to R..Roy.'', Marth sobbed, finding it hard to talk since he still didn't know how to breathe properly.

''I'll bring you to Roy.'', Ike soothed Marth and guided him to the door, holding him as to stable his walk. If he needed Roy, then Ike would bring him to Roy. Even if hurt him that Marth preferred the redhead over him. But that didn't matter at the moment. Everything that counted right now was that Marth became happy again, so Ike helped him walk back to the kitchen again.

Roy sat at the kitchen table and was obviously in an extremely bad mood. With an angry pout, he munched the fruits that were originally planned to be eaten by Marth. _''Screw him.''_, Roy thought bitterly, _''I really don't have the nerve for this anymore.''_ He looked pissed. Yes, he really didn't feel like seducing Marth anymore. Every time he was almost there, that stupid Ike came in and ruined everything. Why doesn't he run to that idiotic mercenary, anyway? Why was he so fond of him, when everybody knew he was just using people and a liar. After all, that Marth was just a stupid, naive, and annoying little princeling. _''Go fuck yourself. Or that filthy Ike.''_, Roy thought loathingly, _''I don't need you. I can have anyone I want.''_ With that, he stood up and went out of the kitchen, heading for his room. The bowl of fruits was left behind at the table.

It didn't take too long until he saw the two men he had just thought of walking towards him. Much to his surprise, Ike held Marth tightly and supported him walking. It looked like Marth was hurt or something. ''Like I care.'', Roy snorted.

''Roy...'', Marth quietly spoke and detached himself from Ike. He weakly went over to him. ''I...'' ''Leave me alone.'', Roy interrupted him firmly. ''Wha...What?'', Marth whispered.

''I don't want you anymore. Leave me alone.'', Roy repeated clearly. Hurt by the harsh words, Marth's just recently dried eyes became wet again. What was going on? All this seemed so unreal. ''But...but you said you love me!'', Marth screamed. ''Well, I lied. And you shouldn't believe everything someone tells you.'' With that, Roy walked away, leaving Marth in the hallway. He stared into nothingness with empty eyes. It didn't matter anymore now, did it? Why should he keep on living when there was nothing to live for? He loved Roy, with all his heart, and now he left him when he needed him the most. Actually, he didn't care about the disease anymore. It seemed like death would release him from this endless pain. Suddenly, everything before Marth's eyes turned black. He gratefully welcomed the familiar darkness as it seemed like the only escape from this torture. He passed out, falling backwards to the floor. Marth didn't notice anymore that he didn't hit the ground, but Ike's soft arms.

Ike lifted Marth up again and carried him to his room. He didn't think it would be a good idea to leave him in his own apartment, for he would be very lonely there. So he decided it'd be best if Marth stayed with him. Actually, Marth didn't have any friends beside him. Of course, he was very nice and polite, and everybody seemed to like Marth a lot, but the prince kept most people at a distance. He was just too shy and rarely opened up to anyone. For him, it must have been a terrible shock to be rejected like that, since it had been the first time he'd ever loved somebody. ''That bastard...'', Ike mumbled through clenched teeth, ''How dare he hurt Marth like that!'' He lightly kicked the propped up door open and entered his apartment. It wasn't exactly neat, and there were books and sheets of paper strayed all over the floor, but Ike didn't care about that.

He went over to his bed and cautiously placed Marth on it. It would be best if he just slept for a while. Ike looked down at the exhausted figure. ''He looks so fragile...'', he thought sadly. All of a sudden, the weight of Marth's suffering seemed to suffocate him. It was just too horrible to be true. The other day, Marth had been a devoted, enthusiastic fighter, and now he was diagnosed with such an ugly disease. That just didn't seem right. Ike gasped for air. It was like reality had just punched him in the stomach. And as he stood there, unable to do anything, fate was laughing right into his face. When he realized that, all strength left his body and he sank down on his knees. Burying his face in his palms, he wished, prayed that this was all some cruel joke.

Ike had lost track of time long ago, but when he looked up again, his room was covered in a spooky, orange light. The sun was already beginning to set. He didn't care that they hadn't shown up at the afternoon brawls, actually, he didn't care about anything anymore. When he turned his gaze towards Marth, the prince's head was averted from him. Apparently he was looking out of the window. ''Marth...?'', Ike asked silently, but he received no answer. Then, he reached out to gently touch his shoulder, but stopped as he heard Marth's voice, quiet and shaky. ''It doesn't matter anymore, does it?'', he whispered, trying to suppress his emotions.

''W...What?'', Ike blurted out. ''I have no one who loves me. There's no one who'll miss me.'', Marth quietly spoke, ''Why should I keep living...I'm unnecessary..No one needs me...It'd be better if I just died... ''

Ike was shocked. Why would he say something like that? Didn't he mean anything to Marth? ''You're wrong'', he interrupted him firmly , ''I'll always care abut you. If you died...'', Ike swallowed hard, ''I wouldn't have a reason to live anymore.'' Marth turned his head to face Ike and just huffed, ''Why? Why would you care?''

Ike took a deep breath. Should he tell him now? How he truly felt about him... Ike scrapped the idea. Marth definitely wouldn't return his feelings. He just broke up with Roy. If he told him now, he would get unnecessarily confused, and feel deceived again. No, that surely wasn't a good idea. ''You...You're my most important friend. I need you.'', he said, feeling like deluding Marth. But it couldn't be confessed. Not now. Marth looked at him intensely. ''Is that so?'', he mumbled and turned his gaze towards the window again. ''It's beautiful...the sunset.'', he stated absently. Ike lifted his head and looked into the same direction as Marth.

''Yes'', Ike confirmed sorrowfully, ''It truly is beautiful.''


	8. Nightmare

There was a long period of silence after that. They just looked out of the window and watched as the last golden sun rays disappeared to leave them in total darkness. When Ike noticed Marth's even breathing, he realized that he had fallen asleep. Suddenly, he felt a wave of exhaustion coming over him, and did his best to fight it. He couldn't fall asleep. ''I have to watch over Marth'' was what he kept on telling himself, but very soon, his flickering eyelids stayed closed. Unlike Marth, Ike's sleep was deep and dreamless, almost resembling a coma. The prince was plagued by nightmares. He tossed and turned and moaned at the pictures in his head.

Marth was sitting in a blindingly white room. He struggled to open his eyes properly, for they felt sticky and tired. Everything was blurred, but he could vaguely see the inventory of the room, noticing that he was in the infirmary. Suddenly, a figure walked in, approaching Marth. It made him shiver with fear, so he took a few steps back, but the shadow came closer and closer. Once it was only one step away from him, Marth could identify it as Doctor Mario. He tried to escape, but the wall behind him prevented him from doing anything. Trapped as he felt, Marth just looked at Mario, trying to search for the reason why he scared him that way in his eyes. The doctor's face looked dead serious when his lips slowly started to move.

''One month... You have one left. One month.'' Marth gasped for air, feeling like he was choking. He wanted to say something, to scream, to cry, but no sound left his burning throat. Therefore, he ran away, he ran as fast as he could, out of the room, out of the mansion. Even though Marth had already left Mario behind him, he could still hear those dreadful words he had spoken. The tears came streaming down his face and he shook his head in rejection. This couldn't be possible, he was young and healthy. His life shouldn't be ending in one month. He intended to live much longer than that. As he ran away, trying to escape his cruel destiny, Marth suddenly noticed someone standing in front of him, far away in the distance. The person radiated a strange red light, making a harsh contrast to the grey scenery filled with dead trees.

''Roy...'', Marth whispered, and if that was possible, he increased his speed even more. Still, the way to Roy just seemed to become longer and longer and with every step he took, the red light was becoming weaker. All of a sudden, Marth stumbled over a big stone and fell down with a loud noise, for he hadn't payed any attention to the ground, but only to Roy. Thick, red blood started running down his hands, because of his vain attempt to cushion the slump. He didn't care about that, though, he just wanted to see Roy. But when Marth looked up again, he was gone. A shiver went up and down his spine. Where was Roy? And what was this place, anyway? It was dull and grey, and there were many big stones towering out of the earth menacingly. Marth stood up and slowly walked over to one of them and realized that there were words carved into it.

_Prince Marth Lowell of Altea_

_1992 – 2009_

_R.I.P._

Marth gasped in shock. What did that mean? He took a few steps backwards, but then suddenly bumped into something. When he turned around to see what it was, he looked directly into Roy's eyes. They were empty and emotionless, freezing in contrast to the warm, red light that surrounded him. Marth's breath was shaky, he was scared and confused. Then, Roy's blank expression suddenly turned into a cold smile. ''You're already dead.'', he murmured quietly. Marth screamed loudly as Roy's soulless laughter echoed through his head.

''Marth, Marth...'', Ike shook his friend violently as to wake him up, but he kept on screaming. **''Wake up!''**, he yelled as loudly as he could, and finally, Marth's eyes opened abruptly. ''I...I'm not...**I'm not dead!**'', he shouted. Ike looked at him in confusion and confirmed. ''No...you're not dead.'' Pulling him into a tight embrace, he gently rubbed Marth's back in order to soothe him. He clutched Ike and cried hysterically. ''I'm not dead!'', he sobbed again, feeling the need to repeat the phrase over and over, just to reassure himself that he was indeed alive. Still.

Ike shut his eyes tightly, rejecting the fact that Marth was already afraid of death. It hurt him to see the person he loved being afraid of something that he couldn't stop. All he could do now was hold him, comfort him, tell him that everything will be alright, knowing that it won't. How do you tell someone to leave the past behind when there is probably no future? What do you do when there is nothing you can do? Ike tried to suppress these questions, concentrating on this moment, and only this one. He kept on caressing Marth until he had calmed down a bit. Then, Ike laid down on the bed with Marth in his arms and waited until he was sure he had fallen asleep again. He seemed to slumber peacefully, therefore Ike decided to close his eyes as well.

The rest of the night had passed without any incidents. Marth was the first one to be awoken by the sunrise early in the morning since Ike had forgotten to close the curtains yesterday evening. When Ike opened his eyes a bit later as well, the first thing he saw was Marth staring at him with dull eyes. He just sighed and turned away. ''I have to do something to make him happy again.'', he thought and looked around his room. As he saw his window, Ike suddenly got an idea. ''Marth?'', he asked cautiously but also with anticipation, ''I want to show you something.'' There was no reaction. When he still hadn't received a reply after quite a while, Ike dug deeper. ''Aren't you curious?'' Marth lazily turned his gaze towards his face. ''Not really'', he mumbled, appearing to be lost in thoughts.

''Come on...It's not far away'', Ike begged, as if he weren't certain that the reason for Marth's listlessness was definitely not the distance. Marth remained silent. ''Alright...'', Ike decided that no answer was also an answer and grabbed Marth's hand. He helped him up, and dragged him across the room. Apparently Marth was too distracted to protest. Once they had reached the window, Ike opened it widely. Then, he turned to Marth with a mischievous smirk on his face and jumped into the depth. All of a sudden, Marth snapped out of his daze and bent over the window to look where Ike had gone.

''I-Ike?'', he asked and He gasped in shock when he felt a cold finger tipping his hand. ''Ha ha! I'm here!'', Ike laughed at Marth's worried and surprised expression. He was standing on a pile of boxes he had obviously pinched from the item depot. The hint of a smile crept upon Marth's face as he remembered how much Ike enjoyed pulling silly pranks. Seriously, they were so dumb they were funny again. Like once, when Ike had stuffed Master Hand's office with tons of sandbags and then placed a flag made of a star rod inside the pile. ''Talk to the hand'' had been written on the flag, Marth still knew that. He had always tried to stop Ike when he had tried to do 'funny' stuff like that, but if he wanted something, Ike could be pretty damn stubborn. Still, Marth had always laughed along with his friend back then, even if they had been scolded by Master Hand.

''Dude, what are you waiting for?'', Ike grinned from down there. ''Christmas.'', Marth smiled lightly, then carefully started to climb out of the window, too. Once he was dangling from the windowsill, he accidentally let go too quickly and stumbled a bit, threatening to fall the few remaining metres, but Ike was there to hold him before something bad could happen. When Marth realized that Ike's hands were stabilizing at his hip, he blushed immediately. Ike just pulled Marth down to himself, murmuring ''Be careful'' in his , he took his hand and led him around the mansion, always paying attention to Marth's walk.

It didn't take too long until they had reached the path Ike had been heading for. They walked a little while, and before Marth realized it, they were standing in the midst of a huge field of barley. He had never seen something like this. It was way bigger than the ones in the place he came from. How come he had never seen this before? It was simply breathtaking. To him, it looked like an uncountable amount of stars had fallen from the sky to build this huge, golden sea. A cold breeze blew through the field and Marth thought that the rustling barley sounded like the ocean. He shivered slightly and noticed that he must have forgotten his cloak somewhere. When Ike saw Marth shaking a bit, he quickly took off his cloak and wrapped it around him. Marth thankfully took it, but then looked into Ike's eyes with confusion.

''Why are you so nice to me?'', he asked. Ike looked away. ''I...recall answering a similar question not too long ago...'', he slyly evaded the inquiry. Marth kept looking at his face, but the taller man quickly changed the topic. ''Do you like it?'', he asked, ''...The field.'' Marth stared at it in awe. ''It reminds me of the sea. I love the sea.'' Ike nodded smilingly. Looking up at the sky, he saw that dark clouds were covering the sunrise. Only few rays of sun managed to break though the black storm clouds, making the whole scenery look really creepy. All of a sudden, Marth remembered his nightmare. It made him feel dizzy and he quickly sat down. Ike did the same and turned his gaze towards Marth.

''Are you scared?'', he asked, looking at him with piercing eyes. Marth tried to look away, but Ike lightly grabbed his chin and held him in order to see his face. ''You don't have to act strong around me. Be honest with me.'' At first, Marth tried to suppress his emotions, but then, everything came out again. ''I...I am'', he gasped for air, ''I'm scared! I'm terrified! I don't want to die! Are you happy now?!'', Marth sobbed and hid the tears with his hands, but Ike detached them from his face.

''You can't hide forever. Let it out. There is no need to act like you don't care for it is a waste of precious time. It's not a shame to cry. But it is a shame to hide instead of facing the reality.'' When he heard that, Marth threw his arms around Ike and wept with sorrow. He knew he was right, but he would never admit such a weakness to anyone but Ike. So Marth silently cried into his shoulder, not feeling embarrassed anymore. Ike had proven that he was a real friend in the past few days. He accepted him for who he was and didn't think he was just a gay little crybaby. If it weren't for him, Marth was sure he would have given up on life. What was left for him, anyway? Roy didn't love him back, he had a tumor, whatever that meant, and Marth was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to fight anymore soon. It was so cruel. It seemed like everything he loved was being taken away from him. Of course, the future scared him, and he was also afraid of Ike leaving him. Probably, it was ridiculous, but apart from Ike, there was nothing left for him.

Ike didn't know how much time had passed since Marth had started crying, but when he heard a loud, angry growl from above announcing a huge thunderstorm, he suggested to go indoors.

They reached the window just a few seconds before the first, thick raindrops started falling down from the sky. Once they were inside his room again, Ike quickly closed the window so that his apartment wouldn't get wet. They awkwardly stood there for a minute, avoiding each other's gazes. Then, Marth was the one to break the unpleasant silence. ''Umm...well..I think I'm going to my room then.'', he mumbled and handed Ike his cloak, ''Thank you. For everything.'' With that, he turned around, heading for the door. Ike looked surprised. ''W- What? No!'', he protested, running between Marth and the door. ''I mean...why don't you stay with me for a little while? My room is big enough for two.'', Ike stammered, blushing slightly. ''I'll sleep on the couch...'' Marth blinked a bit, but then politely refused. ''That is very kind of you Ike, but I don't want to cause you any trouble. I have been enough of a burden to you lately. Forgive me.'' ''You? A burden? What are you talking about...We're friends. Friends help each other when they are in trouble.'', Ike tried to persuade him. But Marth shook his head again. ''When did I ever help you, Ike?'', he asked. Ike just sighed. ''I don't care. I don't want you to sit alone in your room all day.'' Marth bit his lower lip. To be honest, he didn't like the thought of that, either. He looked up. ''Is it really okay?'', he quietly asked. Ike nodded with enthusiasm. ''Yeah, of course it is! I'd be happy if you were here.'' Marth shyly smiled a little. ''May I bring a few things from my room?'', he asked.

''Sure. I'll wait for you.''


	9. Of dragons and horses

Roy was sitting in his room, practicing some conjurer's tricks with his deck of cards. He was bored, and on top of that, in an extremely bad mood. Once he had performed his favorite trick, the vanishment, for the possibly one hundredth time, he decided to walk around the mansion a little with an annoyed sigh. Today, the fighters were having their day off, therefore he was doomed. Roy was the kind of guy who got bored extremely fast, and the day off had always been the lamest one in the entire week, for sure. And now that he didn't have a human toy anymore, it was even lamer. He put his cards away and stood up in order to leave his room. Slamming the door behind him, he walked off into a random direction. With this ugly thunderstorm going on, there was no way he could go outside. As he realized that, his mood worsened even more.

After a few minutes of planless strolling, Roy suddenly stopped because he was hearing something interesting coming from Master Hand's office. Roy heard the loud, high-pitched voice of Peach. Obviously she was totally enraged. _''Hm. Finally something's happening.''_, Roy thought as he sneaked towards the door. It wasn't fully closed, so he soundlessly stuck his head through the slightly opened door as to eavesdrop. Apparently, they were too preoccupied with their argument to notice him. ''You can't just kick him out!!!'', Peach shrieked angrily. ''He's not some object! He has friends here! If you send him home, he'll be lonely! How can you be so heartless? My goodness, he's seriously ill, you monster! Screw you!!!'' Master Hand sighed. ''If he isn't able to take part in the fights, I must consider finding a replacement for him. I feel sorry for him, too, but I have an obligation to my superiors. It's not like I want him to leave.'', he gestured.

''But Master Hand'', a third voice intervened, ''We haven't even completely diagnosed the tumor. I don't know yet if it will lead to death rapidly or not. Besides, there might be a cure. You need to give us time to observe and investigate.'' Roy was now really curious. Who the hell were they talking about? He leaned in a bit closer to identify the third voice he had just heard. It was Doctor Mario, holding Sister Peach to restrain her from hitting Master Hand. The hand sure took his time to answer and make a decision, but then finally he decided what to do next. ''Alright. I'll give you time until winter arrives. If you haven't found a cure by then, Marth will be sent home to Altea.'' _''What?!''_, Roy thought and drew back with a surprised expression. _''Marth? He has a tumor? Well, it can't be that bad...''_ But deep inside, he knew better. If it wasn't really severe, why would Master Hand want to kick him out immediately? After all, Marth was an awesome fighter, even Roy had to admit that. He silently turned around and walked back to his room. Just for a split second, he felt remorse for dumping Marth.

It didn't take too long until Marth was back in Ike's room again. Apart from his cloak that had mysteriously found its way back to his room, he was carrying his sword, a book and a pen. Ike lifted his eyebrow. ''Is that all?'', he asked doubtingly. That really wasn't a lot of stuff. Marth smiled sarcastically. ''No. My minions will deliver me my fifty-four different types of socks and my palace via ship.'' ''Oh. You're funny.'', Ike laughed dryly as not to be rude, but he didn't exactly enjoy that kind of humor on Marth. It was so... _Roy_. _''That disease sure changes people, huh?''_, Ike thought with a frown.

''Umm...just put it on the chair. We'll find a better place for it later.'', he suggested absently, pointing towards the chair next to his desk. Marth nodded and did what he said. Once he was done, he sat down on the desk and looked out of the window, staring at the heavy, black clouds. ''I... ahm...'', he stammered and kept gazing. Ike shook his head and turned to face Marth. ''Hm? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What's wrong?'', he asked and went over to the desk as well. ''Wha... e... d-do now?'', Marth stumbled over the words, having trouble to pronounce them correctly. Ike blinked in confusion. Why was he talking like that? ''Excuse me? I can't understand you.'', he stated and looked into Marth's eyes. ''Ah...wa... wat.'', the prince tried again, but he just couldn't say the words he had in mind. ''Do you want something? Maybe water? I'll get you some.'' Marth desperately shook his head, but Ike was already running towards his nightstand where he kept a full bottle of water and a glass. He quickly poured it in and walked back to Marth, thrusting the glass in his hand. It wasn't really what Marth had wanted, but he didn't want to be rude. ''Tha...nkyu.'', he whispered and took a sip, only to choke on the fluid. ''Whoa! Not so fast!'', Ike said and lightly knocked Marth's back.

When the coughing finally stopped, Marth looked to the floor and blushed with shame.

Then, he took a deep breath and began to speak extremely slowly. ''I... can't.. do... anything ..anymore.'', he said with a trembling voice. Ike winced. ''What?! That's not true! You're still good at...let's see...'', he tried to think of something, ANYTHING, that Marth was good at. Of course, there was fighting, and Marth definitely was impressive, but in his current state, listing that talent was ridiculous. Even if it hurt Ike to know that. Helplessly, he looked around and then noticed the book on his chair. It looked old and had no title. Ike curiously picked it up and opened it at a random page. He gasped as he saw a text written in wonderful cursive and next to it an incredible sketch of a dragon. Distracted by the beauty of the page, Ike almost forgot the words written inside the book. But then, he raised his voice to read it out loud.

_''Sunlight makes him warm and red,_

_But look up at the sky, he fled._

_Knowing that if he was seen,_

_He could never be serene._

_Their two worlds are far apart,_

_But that doesn't change one heart._

_One heart, it's theirs, no need to choose,_

_It must be torn for them to fuse._

_The dragon's wish to leave his sky,_

_The human's desire to soar and fly._

_Moonlight makes him cold and blue,_

_Saddened by the painful truth.''_

Ike looked at the page and pondered the meaning of the poem. It took him a while before he finally got it. ''So... The dragon wants to go down to earth, but he can't, because no one is supposed to see him. The human wants to fly, but he doesn't have wings. That means that they both have the same wish, the same heart. Still, they want the opposite thing.'' Marth didn't say anything. He just looked away in embarrassment. ''It's beautiful, Marth! Don't say that you can't do anything. You can still write! And draw!'', Ike tried to cheer him up, holding the book in front of Marth's face as to prove his point.

''... It is painful...if you want something but cannot have it.'', Marth slowly whispered. Ike let the book sink and closed his eyes. ''I know.''

_''Damn. He's feeling depressed again...''_, Ike thought and mused what he could possibly do to make him happy. He had already figured out that the best and probably only thing he could do right now was distracting Marth from his disease, and also from his loss of Roy. Ike looked out of the window and saw that the storm was already passing by again. Suddenly, he remembered how Marth had rhapsodized about the sea earlier this morning. ''Hey, Marth...'', he spoke with a sheepish smile, ''How would you like to go to the beach with me?'' Marth looked at him confusedly. ''Umm...what? There's no beach at Smash Mansion.'', he answered perplexedly. Ike just grinned at his friend's forgetfulness. ''Not directly at Smash Mansion, of course. But we could go on a trip to Delfino Plaza. It's not that far away... It doesn't even take an hour by horse.''

''Oh! Yeah...you're right. I'm silly.'', Marth looked away blushingly, ''I...don't know. Is it a good idea?'' Ike looked puzzled. ''Why should it be a bad one?'', he questioned. Marth blushed even more, and Ike couldn't help but grin at how cute he was. Marth now totally averted his gaze from Ike. ''I... I...can't swim.'', he mumbled. ''Oh, really? Well, I'll teach you, then.'', Ike casually decided while starting to gather the stuff they'd need at the beach.

''Is it alright?'', Marth quietly asked, ''With my disease?'' Ike dropped his bag and the towels he had originally planned to pack into it and turned around to face Marth with seriousness in his eyes. ''I don't care what...the doctor, Peach, or anyone else says. I'm not watching you locking yourself in a cage. You're still free. You can do anything you want, and I'll support you, no matter what.'' There was a small pause after that, as the words sank in. Then, Marth stood up and grabbed the bag, holding it open as to assist Ike while he put some things in it. Once they were done packing, he slung it over his shoulder and announced that they could leave now.

After a while, the two arrived at the stables. ''Let's ride Luna. She's a little slow, but very reliable.'', Ike suggested while walking over to a big, white horse. She wasn't a particular breed, but her head was slender with sparkly, blue, eyes. Her body was proportional, not too muscular, but not too thin, and she had a kind, curious look on her face as she sniffled at Ike and Marth. The prince smiled warmly. ''She's my favorite. Luna is so nice and beautiful.''

_''Just like you...''_, Ike added in his thoughts as he caressed the horse's neck. Then, he opened the stable and placed his bag inside the hay. Luna's fur was completely clean, and it shone blindingly bright, so he could saddle her right away. ''Why don't you check her hooves while I saddle her?'', Ike suggested as he got saddle and reins from the tack room. ''Sure!'', Marth agreed and skillfully lifted the horse's legs. Evey time he discovered a tiny stone, he cautiously removed it so that it wouldn't disturb Luna when they were riding. She snorted gently as if she wanted to thank Marth.

Once they were done preparing the horse, Ike led it outside and mounted it. Then, he stretched out his hand and pulled Marth up in front of him, securing his seat through entwining his arm around Marth's waist. After warming Luna up a bit, they cantered off into the direction of Delfino Plaza.


	10. How to swim

It took them a bit longer than half an hour, but eventually they arrived at the beach. To Ike's surprise, the usually crowded place was completely empty today. _''Maybe they thought the thunder storm would come back. Or it's already too cold.''_, he tried to explain the phenomenon to himself. Marth on the other hand was simply stunned. He had fought a few battles here, but he had never realized that this was a real beach where you could actually swim. He knew it was stupid, but he never really paid any attention to the scenery while fighting. Ike grinned at Marth's fascinated expression. It seemed to be working... Apparently all he had to do was being there to entertain and distract him.

Once Ike had jumped off the horse, he knelt down to build a bridge in order to help Marth dismount. ''Please allow me to assist you, my prince.'', he joked. When he looked down, Marth blushed as red as fire, creating an interesting contrast to his blue hair. ''I-Ike, it's alright... I can get off Luna by myself...'' ''But it is my duty and wish to guarantee your safety, your highness.'' Even if Ike was obviously just joking around, Marth thought he was hearing a serious undertone in his voice, so he did him that favor. ''Umm... fine...'', Marth shyly agreed. He cautiously stood on Ike's back, putting as less weight as possible on his foot. Once Marth was standing on the sandy ground, his 'want-to-be-servant' jumped up immediately and smiled at him kindly.

''May I teach you how to swim now?'', he asked while pulling his shirt over his head and kicking his boots off. Marth just stared at him with his jaw dropped. ''I...uh...what?'', he stammered, unable to avert his gaze from Ike's perfectly toned muscles. _''Well, I am not THAT well-built...''_, he awkwardly, but also a little admiringly thought, _''...Does Roy look like that, too?''_

''Swimming! I asked if I...'', Ike broke off as he noticed where Marth's attention had gone. ''Oh. Eh... Excuse me.'', he blushed and unintendedly took a step back while turning away. When Marth realized his rudeness, he quickly looked to the side. ''I-I'm sorry!'', he apologized, his cheeks turning crimson as well.

''No! No, that was totally rude of me. Excuse me.'', Ike repeated and started unsaddling Luna with an awkwardly fast pulse. He tried his best to not look at Marth's beautiful, pale skin when he started undressing as well. Still, he couldn't help but glance at Marth a few times as he took off all of his clothing, except for his shorts, of course. Once they were done undressing and, well, unsaddling, Ike suggested to go into the sea.

They had almost reached the water when Ike suddenly remembered something really important. He suddenly turned to Marth and firmly grasped his shoulders with a serious expression on his face. ''Marth'', Ike said, staring into his eyes with gravity, ''You have to promise me something. Never, ever go even near the water all by yourself. Always go with me. Do you understand that?''

Marth blinked a little. ''Uh... yes, Sir. I promise.'' Ike smiled at that. ''Good boy. Now let's go.'' He let go of Marth's shoulders, just to grab his wrist and laughingly ran into the water. The prince joined the laughter and merrily hopped over the small waves. But then, he suddenly tripped over his own feet and crashed into Ike with a surprised cry, both of them splashing into the water. **''C- cold!!''**, Ike yelled and jumped up instantly, shuddering and shaking like a wet dog.

''Sorry...'', Marth mumbled as he got up. Ike smilingly shook his head, even if his teeth were chattering from the sudden frostiness. ''Don't sweat it! Let's walk a few more metres.'', he decided and went a little further with Marth. When the water started to reach their chests, Ike halted. ''Alright. This should be deep enough. You'll finally learn how to swim now!'', he announced. Marth sheepishly took another step forward and tilted his head in confusion. ''How...?'', he asked and curiously looked at Ike.

''First off, watch and learn.'' With a smile, he glided into the water and took a few strong strokes to show Marth how it was done.

The prince secretly admired the graceful look of this action. It looked strange, but at the same time reminded him of a dolphin roaming peacefully through the clear, blue ocean. A gentle smile touched his face as he thought of that. _''Dolphins... aren't they the animals that always smile? If so, Ike would make a great dolphin. They're smart, too...''_

Once Ike thought that he had shown him enough, he went back to him to tell him what to do next.

''Lay on your stomach. I'll hold you so that you don't go under.'', he instructed. Marth did what he said and looked at the crystal clear, turquoise water beneath him as he felt Ike's strong arm supporting him. ''Now, do this motion with both of your arms.'' Ike repeated the spreading motion from before with his free arm on the water surface. Marth eagerly tried to imitate it, but failed ridiculously.

''Like this?'', he asked, looking up at Ike who was trying to suppress a giggle under all circumstances. Of course, Marth had never tried to swim before, but that just looked too funny. He was doing it way too fast and short, and the cool water splashed all around them, making Ike shiver.

He smilingly shook his head a little and then reached out to Marth's arm. ''More like this.'' With fond caution, Ike took his arm and repeated the motion while slowing him down. Marth smiled with enthusiasm. ''Ah! That's a lot more comfortable.'' Letting go of his arm, Ike nodded contently. ''See? That's the right way.'', he praised.

They kept on practicing until Ike felt that Marth was ready for the next step. ''Okay. Now you add the legs. It's really not that hard.'' Marth smiled happily. ''I can do it! Just wait and see!''

''That's the spirit.'', Ike smiled and started holding him again and let him practice. It wasn't too hard to see that Marth obviously had grave problems coordinating his movements. It wasn't like Ike hadn't expected that it would take Marth a lot longer to learn swimming than a regular person. After all, he had a brain disease, so it wasn't abnormal, was it?

Ike bit his lip from the emotional pain that came back to him as he remembered 'it' again.

Even if it was really difficult for him, Marth's desire to learn swimming was strong, and he practiced for hours with fierce determination. It had taken all of Ike's powers of persuasion to get him out of the water and have some lunch.

Due to Marth's constant begging, and his sweet, heartwarming puppy eyes, of course, Ike had helped him to practice until sundown, but when his movements started to become extremely clumsy, he decided that it was about time for them to stop.

''Alright, let's quit for today. You did a great job, Marth.'', Ike decided with a heavy heart then and pulled his friend out of the water. ''I... I'm not tired...'', Marth weakly protested, but once Ike had pulled him out of the sea and onto the sandy beach again, he sank to the ground and instantly fell asleep.

Ike smiled lovingly and laid down next to him. ''Fine, if you want to sleep here...'', he whispered and put his arm around Marth protectively, pulling him close in order to warm him, ''...I guess it can't be helped.'' It didn't take too long until Ike drifted off into a deep, exhausted sleep as well.

When Marth opened his eyes again, everything around him was dark. Only the full moon shone down brightly onto the black sea. Marth sat up with a gasp and looked around him nervously. _''Where... What am I doing here?!''_, he thought, jumping up in surprise. Observing the area distrustfully, he jumped to conclusions. _''I don't remember any of this... I must be dreaming.''_

Suddenly, Marth stopped feeling scared and admired the beauty of this place. The atmosphere was beyond enchanting. Huge, silvery waves were beating the heavy rocks while the smaller waves were lapping against Marth's feet excitedly, luring him into the water. He smiled serenely. It had been so long since he last had such a beautiful dream. Thousands of stars sparkled on the water surface, making it look like a sea of diamonds. He longed to touch them, even if he knew that they were just a reflection. As if in a trance, he walked past the shore, towards the magical white glitter.

The wild waves were already starting to reach his upper arms, but Marth kept on walking further and further, until all of a sudden, he couldn't stand anymore.

Gasping surprisedly, he fumbled for the ground with his feet, but nothing was there. His heart began pounding, louder than the sound of the mighty waves. ''Help!'', he tried to scream, but his vocal cords could only produce a dry whisper because of his fear. Marth tried his best to stay on the surface, but he knew that he wouldn't last very long.

When he turned around, a giant wave was towering right in front of him, obscuring the silver moon. With one final scream, Marth was swallowed by the irate ocean.

Luna was prancing around nervously, feeling that something was wrong. She stepped onto the little waves at the shore in an irritated manner but didn't dare to cross the dreadful border between land and sea. When she suddenly heard a bloodcurdling scream, the horse jumped back out of fear with a shrill neigh.

Ike startled up. Trying to orient himself, he frantically looked around him. Besides the upset horse, no one was there... No one? Where on earth was Marth? Looking from the horse to the ocean and back again, he realised what was going on.

**''Marth!''**, Ike yelled and jumped into the ocean with a forward dive.


	11. Guilt

**''Marth!''**, Ike yelled and jumped into the ocean with a forward dive.

Underwater, he opened his eyes widely, searching frantically for Marth. The saltwater burned and almost blinded Ike, but he stayed strong in order to find him. It was insane to look for a person in the jet black water, however, he couldn't give up now.

As soon as his eyes had adjusted themselves to the violent burning and darkness, he was able to make out the creepy silhouettes of what appeared to be sea creatures. Ike shuddered with fear as he noticed that the water was already so deep that he couldn't see the ground anymore.

When something smooth and cold grazed his side, he cringed anxiously, and started to swim twice as quickly as before. Looking around him, he saw threateningly dark shadows, huge ones and smaller ones, moving slowly or menacingly fast. But he couldn't find Marth.

Even if his pulse probably had reached its maximal speed long since, it continued to throb louder and louder in Ike's ears.

Suddenly he choked heavily, realizing that he was starting to run out of breath already. By the time he'd almost played with the thought of resurfacing just to get a little bit of air, he saw something white in the distance. Desperately praying that it was Marth, he swam into the direction of the light spot as fast as he could. Once he was close enough, he could identify the thing. It took a load off his mind when he recognized the figure as Marth.

Ike's throat stung excruciatingly and his lungs seemed to burst with the need for air. Still, if he'd resurface now, he would certainly lose sight of Marth.

Giving a wince of pain, he swam the few remaining metres towards the sinking body. They seemed like miles to him, but eventually he was there. With the greatest relief he had felt in years, he grabbed Marth under his arms, weakly pulling him up and then swimming to the surface as fast as possible.

Ike gasped and coughed when he inhaled the cold night air, but looked hectically for the shore. It was so far away that he worried if he'd make it. He felt exhausted and about to faint, but he tried his best to fight the fatigue.

Marth's flickering eyelids and his short, hitched breath told Ike that he wasn't unconscious, but they still had to hurry back... Ike didn't even want to think of what was swimming under them, in the depths of the frightful, black ocean.

Therefore, he stayed strong and managed to somehow get back to the shore again after a painfully long swim. When his feet were finally able to touch the ground again, he walked back to the beach, pulling the weakened Marth with him.

All of a sudden, Ike just couldn't take it anymore and fell down next to the prince, crashing to the ground ungently.

Panting heavily, he bent over Marth to look into his confused eyes.

''Tell me'', he growled, completely out of breath, ''Why... the hell did you.. do that! You promised me... not to... go near the water!!'' Ike could barely talk and covered his mouth with his hand as he fell into a fit of coughing.

**''..You... you don't even know how much you mean to me!!!'' **When he thought of what could have happened, Ike shut his eyes tightly, feeling guilty about not watching over Marth the whole time.

''Ike...I... didn't remember... what I was doing..at the beach.'', Marth hesitantly said, also having difficulty breathing, ''I thought... it was a... dream.''

Ike's eyes widened in surprise. ''You... oh... '', he stammered in shock. Could this have something to do with the disease? Ike swallowed with shame. How could he be so stupid?

He reached out and caressed Marth's forehead with affection. ''I'm sorry, prince... Please forgive me. It's all my fault.'', he apologized quietly, ''I should have never brought you here...'' Marth closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself down a bit, for he was still trembling with fear. ''Don't say such things. It's not your fault at all. I should never be so reckless. Not even in my dreams!'', he laughed, trying to loosen up the delicate situation. A gentle smile came across Ike's face. ''That's my Marth...'', he whispered, feeling weary from this previous exertion, ''...The one I know.'' He could barely vocalize those last words before he collapsed on Marth's chest. That had been too much for him, and even if he had tried to fight the tiredness in order to watch over Marth, his body just couldn't take it anymore.

''Thank you, Ike'', Marth mumbled with tears in his eyes while wrapping his arms around his friend, ''Thank you...''

~*~*~*

''Pit?'', Zelda asked with a worried undertone in her voice as she noticed a winged creature float dreamily into the common room like a phantom. She was sitting close to Link on their favorite blue couch, freezing a little since the hot summer had stopped very surprisingly today. It was still very early in the morning, the sun hadn't even started to rise, so it would probably get a little warmer later on. The princess of Hyrule peeked at her boyfriend with a questioning look in her pretty face, sharing suspicious looks. The angel-boy wasn't really paying attention to anything, he just hummed a sweet little melody and flapped around with his pure, white wings.

''Pit, what are you doing?'', Zelda tried again in a louder voice when Pit picked up a pillow from the couch the two of them where sitting on and carried it to a shelf. She really didn't get his eccentric personality. Sure, Pit was the sweetest and most adorable... thing in the world, that was certain. Most of the time, he was joyous and cheerful, and he always managed to make people smile with his innocence. But there was also another aspect of his personality, the one that rarely showed up, and when it did, it always left again pretty quickly.

It was the thoughtful, tranquil and peaceful Pit; the one that seemed much more 'divine'. Zelda frowned at the rare sight of a Pit who wasn't hopping around all the time. Instead, he continued to sing his slow melody, re-arranging the inventory of the huge common room.

''I have a bad feeling.'', he simply said after a while of taking things from the room and placing them in the most ridiculous places. The angel turned towards the surprised couple.

Link knitted his brows along with a crooked smile. ''I hate it when you say that.''

''Where are Ike and Marth? I haven't seen them in days!!'', Pit suddenly screeched, flapping his wings anxiously.

Zelda jumped up from her seat and walked quickly towards Pit, grasping his arms to hold him still. She looked at him seriously. ''Pit... Don't tell me you have a bad feeling about one of them. Please, don't-'' The angel interrupted her excitedly. ''But I do!! About Marth! I know that something bad is happening to him!'' The princess turned to Link who had also gotten up from the couch. Their exchanged glances just screamed one name. _''Roy.''_, the elves whispered at the same time.

Link put an arm around his friend's shoulders and walked towards the door with him, trying to save this failed situation somehow. ''Look, Pit... Do you know Roy? The guy with the red hair and the blue eyes. Always smirking. Why don't you go play with him? I'm sure he wants to play with you. He loves games...''

All of a sudden, Pit's face lit up and he squealed with joy. ''Yes! I will! That's so awesome!!''

The Hylian smiled. ''Great, I'm sure he'll be happy.'', he answered, ''Zelda and I will go and talk to Master Hand meanwhile, so you don't have to worry about Marth and Ike.''

''Okay! Bye-Bye!!'', Pit yelled as he quickly flew out of the room again.

Zelda looked at Link with confused anger in her sharp eyes. ''I'm not exactly sure if that was a good idea, Link!'', she stated, slightly enraged. ''It was, honey! Pit is such a charismatic guy. I bet he'll have a good influence on Roy.'', Link defended himself, ''He's one of my best friends! I wouldn't allow him to visit Roy if I thought it was dangerous.''

''If you say that...'', Zelda mumbled, still not entirely convinced. ''Let's go'', Link decided, taking her hand and leaving the room for the direction of Master Hand's office.

~*~*~*

Roy was sitting in his room, absently playing with a deck of cards when he suddenly heard an energetic knock at his door. ''It's open...'', he grumbled irritatedly. Seriously, the person who disturbed him while practicing his amazing conjurer's tricks better had a damn good reason to do so. Roy snorted with an annoyed grimace while performing his favourite trick, the disappearance of a card. It worked perfectly, for he had practised it so many times tonight.

''Kaaaayyyy!'', he flinched when he heard a loud voice which sounded like chiming bells. It seemed familiar, but he didn't have a clue who it could possibly belong to.

Barely interested, he slowly lifted his head in order to see who dared to startle him that stupidly. Once he saw just _what_ was standing right in front of him, Roy stiffened and all his cards floated to the ground with a soft, rustling sound. An _angel_?!

''What the fuck is going on here.'', he muttered, rubbing his temples in a confused manner.

Indeed, what the fuck. Was that an angel of death, who has come to take revenge on him for leaving Marth? Seriously, he was pissed off enough. He had stayed up all night, trying to convince himself that Marth would certainly get over...him.

''Look, I didn't know he had a tumor. If I had known that, I wouldn't have broken up with him so roughly...'', he tried to explain his behavior to the heavenly creature.

That didn't seem to understand anything. It just blinked and then shook his head. ''Pit is not following!!!'', it screeched and started to rub his eyes in confusion.

''Umm... Aren't you going to kill me for being a horrible person? You're a death angel and stuff, huh?'', Roy asked with obvious sarcasm in his melodic voice.

''OH, PALUTENA, NO! I'd never kill someone!!!'', the angel screamed in horror.

After a brief pause in which Roy just stared at the thing in front of him with disbelief, Roy eventually started to talk again. ''Who are you and what do you want?''

It seemed like the little angel had just waited for these questions. ''My name is Pit!'', he burst out excitedly, ''And you must be Roy! Link told me that you'd like to play with me! But...'', Pit stopped for a second, ''What did you say about...tumor... Isn't that a bad thing?!''

Roy looked away. ''It's... I don't know. It's some disease.''

The angel gasped and scrunched up his wings behind his back. ''Goddess! What?! Is it dangerous? Who... who has that disease?!'', he whispered in a brittling voice. The cards were laying on the ground neglectedely, but no one thought of playing with them right now.

Roy swallowed heavily.

''Marth.''


	12. High voltage

''Marth...?'', Pit approached Roy just a little, his voice shaking and his hands trembling, ''...he has a disease?''

Roy didn't answer. What should he say, anyway? Why did that stupid angel make him feel so bad?! With a sigh, he turned around and walked towards his bed. Then, he let himself fall on his back, the soft sheets cushioning his fall. Seeking relaxation, he stretched his arms and legs widely and stared up at the dull, white ceiling.

He grew seriously concerned about his mental health when he saw the faint image of a crying Marth instead of the blank wall.

''AAAAH! GOD DAMN IT! **I don't fucking care about him!**'', he screamed with rage, grabbing a pillow and pressing it against his face violently.

When he ran out of breath, he was forced to remove it though, so he threw it away in a random direction. The pillow flew across the room like a dangerous bullet before it eventually crashed into Roy's shelf, tearing down the vases he kept in there. With a loud noise, they splintered into billions of pieces shattered on the dark, wooden floor.

**''Fuck!'',** Roy cursed angrily as he stood up from his bed again, **''I didn't know, okay?!''** He screamed and kicked his chair into his desk, causing it to break in half.

Pit flinched and threw himself onto the ground, creeping under the bed. _''I've never seen someone so angry!''_, he thought with fear, but also a little admiration. Roy looked like a fiery dancer as he kept destroying his inventory. He was so... rebellious. Pit didn't know such temper. He always had to obey the rules of his goddess. She wouldn't be pleased with anarchy like that...

Roy continued his rampage for a good ten minutes before he finally sank to the floor with a final, furious roar. He panted heavily as he sat there in the debris of his room, looking around himself with a mad look in his eyes.

''That's not good enough...'', he growled.

Cautiously, Pit crept out from under the bed, slowly approaching Roy. Once close enough, he reached out to gently touch his cheek. ''Whatever you did, I'm sure Palutena will forgive you'', the angel tried to soothe him, ''She is very kind...''

Hesitantly, he looked into Pit's eyes, silently searching for the reason why an angel would trust someone like _him_. He was... terrible.

''I... I never really cared about other people's feelings...'', he whispered, ''I simply didn't care. I found it rather amusing...'' He lowered his gaze with shame. Just because he couldn't stand Pit's faithful eyes. If he knew what he had done...

He shook his head with disgust. Even thinking of lying to an angel... he really was the worst.

With a resigned sigh, he decided to finally tell the truth. For once, he would tell the truth.

''Marth is sick...he loved me... and I left him. I wonder how sad he must be right now..I haven't seen him in a while...'' Roy picked up a piece of wood laying beside him, eying it sceptically, ''He must be thinking: _Why doesn't Roy have that disease... he's..he deserves it!_''

He angrily threw the piece into his wall, causing it to tear open.

''I HATE MYSELF!''

Pit winced and let go of him. What could he possibly do to calm him down? Suddenly, he got a brilliant idea. ''HEY! Why don't you write him a letter?! In which you apologize??'', he shouted with excitement.

Roy turned to face the smaller boy. He blinked a little and stared at him with disbelief. ''That's... umm...childish.'', he commented, starting to dig in the remains of his desk anyway, ''But...it might work.'' Deciding that, he found, confusingly enough, a pen and a piece of paper in the ruins. After all, he had to at least apologize, or else Marth's face would haunt him for years.

When Ike awoke after what seemed like an hour to Marth, he awkwardly stood up, blushing at their...suggestive position. It didn't take too long until they were dressed up and ready to go home again, but the unpleasant vibe just didn't appear to be wanting to leave the two of them alone for once.

Even on the ride home, they avoided talking to, or even looking at the other person. Ike didn't feel very comfortable around his crush, insecure of how to be funny, kind, and considerate at the same time without hurting the prince's feelings or reminding him of his disease, while Marth simply didn't know what to say.

When Ike eventually decided to start a conversation, he couldn't think of anything better than the weather, of course. ''It's already rather cold.'', he chatted, hoping that Marth would say something. ''Yeah... I... umm... well, I didn't think summer would leave that quickly'', he answered slowly, ''Considering... that it was.. pretty warm...a few days ago.'' Ike turned around to face Marth with a surprised look in his eyes. Why was he talking so haltingly? It didn't sound natural.

As he noticed the questioning look in his friend's eyes, Ike just smiled and branched off again, concentrating on the horse. He caressed Luna's neck with a frown.

Eventually arriving at the Mansion, they unsaddled their horse together, thanking it for the safe ride. The rest of the morning went pretty normal, just like any other day, except for the fact that Marth had nearly drowned a few hours ago. They ate breakfast together, but the drowning topic remained untouched. In fact, the awkward silence between them was still present.

''Is it okay... if I go ahead?'', Marth asked after he had finished his tea, while Ike was still chewing on his bread absently. ''Sure...'', he nodded and continued staring into the wall in front of him. Marth stood up, carefully putting away his dishes. Then, he quietly left the kitchen with one last, sad glance at Ike.

The corridors were empty, therefore Marth assumed that everyone was still asleep. When he passed the door to his own room, though, he stopped with surprise. Something was laying there on his doorstep. He curiously picked up what appeared to be a letter. Reflexively, Marth looked around to assure himself that no one had accidentally dropped it.

_''What is that?''_, he thought with excitement, flipping the letter without finding a name written on it. He never received any mail. Who would possibly write him?

With a pounding heart, he ripped the letter open, pulling out a piece of paper.

But what he read made him feel sick to his stomach.

_Marth,_

_How are you? I just wanted to apologize._

_What I did was totally low. I didn't know you had a disease._

_I feel sorry for you. Please don't be mad at me._

_I'm sorry about making you sad._

_Do you still want to be friends with me?_

_Get well soon._

_Roy._

Marth sobbed woefully. How did he deserve that? What had he done to deserve being treated like that?! With a strangled sound, he let himself sink to the ground, clutching the letter with his trembling hands. Wrapping his arms tightly around his legs, he buried his face in his knees, desperately trying to hide the tears from himself.

**''Roy, you jerk!''**, he yelled between breaths.

Ike didn't really feel like finishing his breakfast anymore, so he decided to follow Marth. After what had happened earlier this morning, he just felt the need to keep his eyes glued to the prince all the time. That's why he was quickly on his way to his room.

Suddenly, he halted as he saw a shadow crouching at the ground. Without a doubt, it had to be Marth. Ike carefully walked towards Marth, bending down to him with a sad smile.

''What happened?'', he silently asked while caressing his back. All he received for an answer was a depressed sniff.

**''I don't need his pity!''**, Marth suddenly screamed after a while, bursting into a flood of tears, ''I... I don't want a- anyone to kn...know about the...the disease!!'' He crumpled the piece of paper up and threw it away.

Ike tried to calm Marth down a little by taking him in his arms, but he kept on raging, cursing Roy with all his might.

''...I love him!! I still love him!'', he sobbed, throwing himself against Ike. ''I don't want this! Do something, Ike, please! Turn back the time for me! **Please**...'', he begged and pleaded, crying heartbreakingly.

Ike just tightened the embrace, trying to make him feel better. In fact, he couldn't do anything. Oh, how he would love to turn back the time for him. He would be willing to give everything to do that. Even his own life. But it simply wasn't possible. Taking a deep breath, he pulled Marth onto his feet again, holding him so that he wouldn't stumble.

''Don't cry, Marth'', he commanded, wiping the tears from his face, ''Or do you want to make me cry, too? I can't stand seeing you like that.'' Marth's eyes widened as he saw a tear sparkling in the corner of Ike's eye. ''I'm...sorry'', he apologized sincerely. A gentle smile touched the corners of Ike's mouth. ''...Don't be.'', he said, resting his head against Marth's shoulder with his eyes closed. For a moment, he was truly at ease. And he could sense that Marth felt the same thing.

''You're my only friend, Ike.'', he sobbed, but tried to fight the tears. Ike stroked Marth's hair with affection. ''It's okay... Let's go to my room. There you can tell me what upset you. We don't want to wake anyone, do we?'' Marth remained silent and nodded, picking up the ball of paper he had cast away moments ago. Then they walked to the next corridor in which Ike's room could be found. As they entered it, Marth shyly handed the letter to Ike, apparently embarrassed about letting his friend know about his...relationships. On the other hand, he had witnessed everything about him and Roy anyway. So, it couldn't possibly get even more...awkward than this. Ike wordlessly unfolded the paper while shutting the door, sitting down to read what it said. Marth watched him with anticipation as he read the few lines Roy had written for him.

When Ike started turning the paper around to see if there were more words, Marth burst out with all the hurt and anger that's been brewing inside of him. ''What an idiot, right?!'', he yelled enragedly, pacing up and down the room nervously. Ike just frowned. ''What's your problem? I think that's...pretty nice of him, actually. I didn't expect someone as spineless as Roy to... apologize.'', Ike stated, surprised at Roy's behavior. Seriously, he had always thought that he wasn't even capable of spelling the word 'sorry'.

''WHAT?!'', Marth screamed furiously, ''You think that's nice?! It's nice to apologize for dumping me, because he... found out about my disease?'' He took a deep breath, trying in vain to lower his voice. ''He just feels guilty!! That's it. He doesn't care about my feelings! If it weren't for the tumor, he wouldn't have.. felt sad at all! How... how dare he... write me this...stupid letter!'' With that, he wrenched the sheet from Ike's hand, shredding it into tiny, little pieces.

Ike stood up in order to calm Marth down. ''Okay. It's probably not your fault that you're overreacting a little... Just let me-'' ''NO! It's NOT okay! You don't understand me at all!!'', Marth interrupted him, now seriously angered, **''Why don't you just leave me alone! I hate it how you're.. always trying to... control me!''**

That _hurt_.

''Fine.'', Ike answered with grief, quietly opening the door. ''Just don't do anything reckless. I hate it how you always pull your careless stunts.'', he added while leaving, even if he really hadn't intended to say that.


	13. Chaos

''Then why did you... even bother saving me?!'', Marth screamed at the closed door in front of him, ''You should have..let me...drown! **I hate my life!!**'' He walked towards the door in order to follow Ike, to tell him how much he despised everything and everyone, including him. But when he reached for the knob in order to throw the door open, he grasped air instead of wood, since he was unable to measure the distance correctly. Stumbling forward, he bumped onto the hard floor with a thud. His knee throbbed painfully because of the impact, but Marth was totally impervious for pain right now, for all he felt right now was the unrestrained rage.

**''I don't need you!''**, he cried as loudly as his voice allowed him to, keeping on lying on the ground as he inhaled in short, clipped breaths. Marth angrily clutched the wooden floor, resting his forehead against it. He refused to stand up. It would be best if he never stood up again. Why should he get up, anyway? He was totally useless, falling down all the time, always in need for help. In addition, no one truly cared about him whatsoever.

Therefore, he could just fall asleep here...and never wake up...

...It seemed like a beautiful dream to Marth.

Meanwhile, Ike wandered about the mansion without a clue where to go. He was lost. His mind seemed completely blank. It was impossible for him to believe what had happened just moments ago. Confusion, hurt and anger at himself were whirling inside of his head, making him feel incredibly dizzy. Gravity didn't exist for him anymore. Right now, there was nothing to pull him down to the ground again, nothing to keep him down to earth. Where was he going? Why was he running away? Did he even care about what was happening in this moment?!

The anarchy continued rioting inside of him, while his feet carried him somewhere - Ike didn't know where. All he knew was that his mind was yelling at him, ordering him to turn around and run back to his room, to beg Marth for forgiveness, to ask him if they could talk this over.

But he did not obey the loud, desperate screams which echoed through his head. His irrational subconscious, the rebellious demon of his mind, was whispering to him in a deceiving manner, silently telling him to leave Marth alone like he had asked him to. It wanted him to let go and just let Marth be Marth for a moment. Without worrying about him anymore... that's what he wanted, right? He had requested less control, so he shall have less control.

The mute voices that only existed in Ike's imagination fought violently for dominance, threatening to be vocalized. What was he going to do now? Which path should he pursue now?

All of a sudden, the crushingly strong emotions overwhelmed him like a huge tide inside a raging ocean, causing him to prostrate with exhaustion. A black haze was forming right in front of his eyes, blurring his vision as if he had just stood up really quickly.

With a groan, he supported himself through leaning his back against the wall. The voices in his head were getting louder and louder, but Ike didn't want to hear to them. They were both wrong, they all were wrong. He should listen to what his heart was telling him instead of his mind.

The faintness was getting worse and worse, forcing Ike to slide down the wall as he breathed unsteadily. He felt hot, his mouth was dry from the fear. It seemed like he was lost in the desert.

''Ike? Are you alright?'' When he suddenly heard his name being called, Ike snapped out of his daze and looked up at the usual, serious face of Doctor Mario. At that very moment, he realized where his feet had carried him. Was it a coincidence? Rather not. Obviously, he had unintendedly walked to the infirmary, seeking for help. Right now, he was completely clueless of what to do.

''I... I'm fine.'', Ike answered with a reassuring but faked smile, quickly standing up in order to prove his point. But since he still felt dizzy, he staggered a little, and Mario had to hold him so that he wouldn't fall down. ''You do not look fine at all. I suggest you to lie down for a minute. '', Mario politely recommended, but the tone of his voice indicated that he wouldn't allow him to go anywhere except for the next best bed. Therefore, Ike obeyed with a weak nod, letting the doctor guide him into the hospital ward.

Once Ike was lying on the bed, he realized something strange. It was awkward and made his heart sting painfully. _''Marth had been lying on this bed before...''_, he thought yearningly, and his eyes started burning like fire, _''...I wonder if it still smells like him.''_ Hopefully, he turned his head, trying to take in Marth's addiction causing scent. A warm tear rolled down Ike's cheek as he realized that his sweet smell was still lingering in the soft, white sheets. Closing his eyes, he involuntarily reached out to touch the pillow with longing.

''I... was on my way to Marth's room.'', Mario stated as he watched Ike with a frown, ''I have news...about his disease.'' Ike abruptly sat up with new found hope. ''It's curable, right? I knew it! So when are you going to-'' ''It's definitely spreading.'' A minute of silence elapsed, with both of them just looking at each other. When Ike finally knew how to speak again, he raised his voice to talk. ''Well, what does that even mean?! It's still worth a try! Why don't you do anything? I thought you were a doctor!'', he said in a blaming tone.

**''I'm not god!''**, Mario yelled back at him, ''Do you think I have to deal with malignant brain tumors everyday?! Do you really think that doesn't affect me emotionally? I'm sorry that I'm not a wizard who can perform miracles.''

Ike stared at the doctor, trying to come up with a witty retort to that, but he simply couldn't. What was he doing? He was fighting with him, even if it wasn't his fault at all. _It was no one's fault._ But it was always so much easier to blame everything on someone. And while they were standing here, throwing insults at each other, Marth's condition was getting worse and worse. Realizing that, Ike covered his face with his hands, quietly sobbing.

~*~*~*

''I need to see him.'', Roy silently but determinedly said. Pit was sitting next to him on the bed, the only piece of furniture that had survived Roy's outburst of fury. He happily smiled before patting his shoulder in a friendly way. ''Yes. Yes! Do that! It's a good idea! I bet he's happy after reading the letter, so he'll love, love, **love**, to talk to you again! I'm going to play outside!!'', the angel yelled enthusiastically, and before Roy could answer anything, he was already flying away again, leaving the door wide open.

''What a weirdo.'', Roy thought with an irritated snort, but then quickly was on his way to Marth's room. He'd been there earlier in order to give him the letter, but there had been no reply when he had knocked on the door. ''Maybe he's awake now.'', he mused as he walked down the corridor. Suddenly, he heard a pathetic little sob, and turned around to see where it came from. He was seriously surprised when he noticed that it was coming from Ike's room. Silently, in order to not be noticed, he sneaked towards the door and held his ear against it. There. Another quiet sniff. Why was Ike crying?! When his curiosity took totally over, Roy found himself pressing down the door handle. To his astonishment, it wasn't even locked, but who he saw there lying on the floor, that _really _wasn't what he had expected. He bent down and patted Marth's shoulder. ''Hey! What's wrong with you? Get up!!'', Roy ordered, trying to pull him up by his cloak.

Marth turned around with surprise, trying to get away from his former crush. Well, technically, he still was his crush, but... he didn't love him back, so...

''Leave me alone! I HATE YOU!'', Marth yelled, creeping away from his ex...lover, friend or boyfriend, or whatever you want to call it. Roy just grabbed him by his sleeve, pulling him back to himself. ''LISTEN UP!'', he screamed, fixing Marth with his cold, penetrating eyes, ''**I** am the one who makes the rules! **You** are the one who obeys them!''

And Roy didn't know just _what_ the hell had come over him when he had cupped Marth's face with his hands in order to give him a kiss full of passion. For a moment, he had just looked so...beautiful.

Marth didn't want to admit it, but it felt like the butterflies in his stomach he had once thought dead were being revived, and they were even livelier than before. He thought that Roy smelled like roses and spring, that his hands were as soft as the clouds in the blue summer sky, and his lips... oh, his lips, they felt like a burning fire, fierce and determined like their owner. But then, the sudden realization came to him, the one that made him want to just slap Roy.

Marth pushed him away violently, since it felt like his heart was being broken and shattered and he himself was trampling on the pieces of his soul. **''You don't love me!''**, he shouted, his voice breaking like his hurt heart. Icy blue eyes were piercing through Marth, trying to stare themselves into his subconscious, and the contrast between his warm, red hair and the cold, bright, irises was stronger than ever.

''I can't stop thinking about you'', Roy calmly stated, ''I want to kiss you all the time, and... I can't stand seeing you with that mercenary.'' He paused in order to stealthily lean closer to Marth, caressing his hair cautiously, almost... lovingly.

''Does that equal love?'', he quietly whispered, ''Or am I just blinded by your otherworldly beauty?'' The prince turned his head and looked away melancholically. ''Please...don't..look at me that way.'', he mumbled, covering his face with his hands.

''Your hands are beautiful, too...'', Roy grinned, retracing the form of Marth's fingers and secretly removing them from his face, ''...Give me another chance.''

They looked at each other, one with the radiant heat of a volcano, the other one with an ice cold, but chaotic blizzard in his eyes. ''I... can't.''

''You still love me. I can see it.'' Marth slowly shook his head. ''I hate you.'' Roy just chuckled at that. ''Shall I teach you how to lie?'', he mumbled and finally melted the ice only by putting his arms around his neck, ''You really suck.'' Roy closed the small space between them once again, but this time, he did it so tenderly as if a little butterfly was landing on Marth's lips. Because they were his flower. That flower was _his_ private possession, and he wouldn't _ever_ let anyone else touch it, or pluck it, for that was his privilege alone.

Marth blushed when he felt Roy's soft lips against his own again. It was so... different from the other kiss. He was being so careful and sweet, it was that side of him which rarely showed up. Mostly, he was aggressive and really wild, even if Marth had been too blind to notice that at the beginning. But the better he got to know Roy... the more perfectly imperfect he appeared to him. His temper was so charming and fascinating - never, ever boring him.

''Let's go.'' Roy stood up and held out his hand. With a smile, Marth took it and pulled himself up, and it seemed so natural that they didn't let go of each other, even when they had left Ike's room behind them long since.


	14. Mine

''Roy...'', Marth whispered with a sincere smile as he peacefully lied on Roy's chest, listening to his constant, soothing heartbeat, ''...I really love you.'' To him, this moment was simply perfect, it felt like nothing would ever break them apart again, and they would stay together forever. He wanted to keep laying here with him, he wanted to freeze this moment and always treasure this smile on his lips.

Roy patted Marth's hair with affection. ''I love you, too, my beautiful flower... my prince. Mine alone.'' When Marth heard that, the heat rushed into his cheeks, coloring him in an aggressive red. ''Roy! I'm not beautiful... and... I'm not your possession!'', he screeched, hiding the blush that betrayed his confidence through buriying his face in Roy's chest. ''You embarrass me.''

A sly, sadistic grin made its way onto Roy's mouth, as he was thrilled by Marth's cuteness every time he mocked him a little. He really flirted with the idea of Marth being embarrassed... and apparently he had just found a weak point.

''Oh Marth, my valuable, blue jewel... You're as pretty as a picture. How can anyone not love you? How can anyone not _desire_ you? But they are all poor... you are only mine. You were, are, and always will be, just mine. I won't share my wonderful flower with anyone. No one can touch you, or even look at you, my love...'', he stated, pulling Marth into a tight embrace and pressing him into the soft sheets of his bed. Blushing even more, the prince struggled to free himself as he felt extraordinarily uncomfortable in his current position.

''My beautiful gemstone...''

''R- Roy, stop it, you-''

''...You remind me of a shimmering Lapislazuli...''

''Why are you doing this to-''

''...Or the Blue Flower, which is a symbol for romance and...''

''You really embarrass-''

''...Love, desire, longing...''

''You're overdoing it-''

''...striving for the unreachable...''

''Why is your room so destroyed?''

Roy halted. He looked into Marth's magnificent blue eyes, meeting -besides the utter embarrassment- distrust, mystification, and confusion. It took him a moment to answer this question to himself. Why – Why, indeed would he destroy this nice, red room? What had gotten him so upset that he had broken his pretty, ornated chair into splintery, wooden wrecks; what had made him so furious that he _had_ to shatter his valuable vases -all heirlooms, by the way- so that they were now strayed all over his apartment, sparkling fascinatingly, but dangerously in the early autumn sun.

''Hmm...'', mused Roy with a pondering mien, ''...It is because...you drive me insane.'' Marth narrowed his eyes perplexedly. ''Me? You were the one who left me.'', he whispered with venom dripping from his voice.

''I wasn't blaming you, ice prince... I need you. I go crazy without you.''

''If this is really the truth, then...''

''...Don't speak.'', Roy breathed, kissing him ever so gently but claimingly... the way Marth loved it.

''I need you to do me one favor.'', Roy said with sadness, almost despair in his tuneful voice.

Marth looked at him with all his trust. He would do all that he wanted, Roy could have asked for his heart, and he would have torn it from his chest, presenting it to him on a golden platter. ''Anything, Roy, anything for you...''

Roy swallowed at the unconditional faithfulness in Marth's look, hesitating to vocalize his actually rather exaggerated request. Nevertheless, he needed this reassurance.

''Stay away from Ike.'', he seemingly commanded, but there was a slight insecurity in his voice, barely noticeable.

''F- From...Ike?'', he stuttered, eyelids fluttering with confusion, ''...But...why?'' By the thought of Ike, Marth's inner organs started to hurt as if someone had just punched him. It was awkward to even think of his name, after saying such mean things to his friend. Was he even still his friend after all that he had done? He felt so incredibly guilty.

''Roy...Roy, I can't do that.'' Marth shut his eyes tightly, noticing the tears as they burned in the corners of his eyes. ''Ike is... he's... a very important friend of mine.'' Roy's heart skipped a beat. So it was really true...? _''He loves him. He...doesn't even know it himself yet.'', _he thought, biting his lip and looking away with a blush.

''Roy... I love you. I love your... aggressiveness, I love your mean jokes, I love how possessive you are, I... I even love your lies. I love everything about you! No one can ever replace you... But, please... leave me this one friend I treasure. Please.'' Marth looked at his love, beggingly, his gorgeous eyes still glistening with the water that threatened to overflow from the ocean blue irises.

Roy tried really, really hard not get a face as red as his hair while listening to Marth's beautiful voice saying such nice things about _him_...confessing his love to _him_. It felt so good, it made him feel so warm from the inside. Nobody had ever said something like this to him.

''...Goddamn it. I can't resist your... fucking cuteness.'', he cursed with an obvious, pink tint all over his cheeks.

''Fine. Be friends with him. But if he even thinks of touching you... I swear to god, I'll kill him.'', Roy quietly hissed, tightening his grip on Marth. In a harsh contrast to the almost violent behavior, he leaned down in order to place a tender kiss on his brow. Marth gasped with surprised happiness. ''Thank you... Roy...I need you.'', he sighed and gently caressed his lover's cheek, ''...I think that... at the moment, Ike doesn't want to see me, anyway. I said some really cruel things to him.''

''Ooh, how terrible!'', the redhead groaned with well-hidden sarcasm – while inwardly squealing with joy. How great! If his Marthy fought with Ike, that certainly meant that he wouldn't have to worry anymore soon. Then he would be all his...

Marth just looked away with shame, apparently lost in thoughts. When Roy noticed the sad reflection in his averted gaze, his inner glee abated a bit. He did not like seeing his prince like this. It made him feel...gloomy.

''It really bothers you that much...?'', he asked with a worried frown. Marth answered through a weak nod, and Roy simply groaned at this. Did he really have to do allow that? ''Then... then you should, like... talk to him or something, I guess.'' Seriously, he hated to leave his Marthy alone with that filthy mercenary, but it appeared to him that he didn't really have a choice in this particular case.

Marth's face lit up like a matchstick in total darkness. ''You don't mind?!'', he screamed euphonically, feeling that everything would return back to normal again.

The hint of a sincere smile touched Roy's lips, almost_, almost_ curving them upwards.

Barely. Slightly. A little bit.

''I'll be right back!'', Marth whispered and jumped up from the bed, heading for the door. ''OH!'' When he was already halfway outside, the prince turned around again, quickly walking back to the bed, to Roy, just to press his own, warm lips against his soft cheek one more time. Then, he quickly left, silently closing the door behind him. Leaving Roy alone in his wrecked room again.

He stared at the door, hoping that Marth had forgotten something and would come back... Or that he would change his mind and stay here with him. It was just in this moment that Roy realized something had happened to him. Something new and exciting he had never experienced before. That his heart started beating a little faster as his eyes were being fixed on the motionless door in front of him, waiting for Marth to return. That he counted every second passing by without Marth. That he had fallen in love with Marth.

Barely. Slightly. A little bit.

~*~*~*

Ike didn't feel well when he walked backed to his room from the infirmary. He went slowly, delaying the reunion with Marth as much as possible. It had been quite a long talk with Doctor Mario. After starting to cry desperately on the hospital bed, Ike had told Mario everything in his moment of sorrow. Everything. About Marth being in love with Roy, about Roy who broke up with Marth, about his and Marth's trip to the beach, about the almost-drowning...and the letter. The only thing that he had kept to himself was that he loved Marth. But that wasn't relevant, anyway.

What really mattered now was that Doctor Mario was certain that none of this was Marth's fault. Ike had been surprised at how understanding the doctor was, how patiently he had listened to him, without interrupting him once. He had always thought that he was cold-hearted and serious, like doctors were, but in fact, he wasn't. Mario had taken his time to explain the disease to him, he had shown him pictures and what options they had now.

Still, mostly he had clarified that Math needed friends and support more than the medicine he had given Ike for the young prince right now. More than once Mario had pointed out that the sudden outbursts of rage or the short time memory losses weren't to be blamed on him. That Ike should be careful and patient with him, and that he should pay attention to what Marth was doing and saying.

Ike really didn't feel well. He was exhausted, tired and sad. Most of all, he didn't want to fight with Marth anymore. It was terrible to have an argument with the one he loved. All he wanted to do now was apologize to him, and then hopefully become friends again. Clutching Doctor Mario's medicine for Marth like an anchor of hope, he continued his slow walk in the direction of his room.

When he had reached the final corridor, the one with his apartment, his eyes widened as he saw a certain someone coming towards him from the other side. ''Marth...'', he whispered, and even if he didn't intend to, he started walking faster and faster, until he was completely running to the cause of his sleepless nights, and his dreams. ''Marth, I'm sorry!'', he simply burst out, forgetting all the nice words he had cautiously prepared on the walk back to his room.

Marth looked at Ike with shock. Was he really apologizing...? But, he had been the one who had started all this! ''D... Don't be...'', he mumbled while awkwardly fiddling with his collar, ''It's all my fault. I am sincerely sorry, Ike. Will you ever forgive me?''

Ike's eyes grew as large as apples when he heard that. ''M- Marth... You are...so sweet.'', he blushed a little, insecure of what to do now, ''You're...saying that...even if it's that stupid disease's fault...not yours.'' Ike took Marth's hand, placing the medicine in it. ''Please take this. It's from Doctor Mario...''

The prince observed the packaging suspiciously. ''And... this will heal me?'', he questioned, with hope, but also scepticism in his eyes. Ike swallowed hard. ''Not... not heal you, but... help you. Please, trust me.'' Suddenly, all the wariness was being washed from his face, only leaving a gentle smile behind. ''Thank you!''

They stood there, uncomfortably, feeling like there was something in the air... that they had forgotten something which had to be talked about. Then, Marth suddenly remembered what it was. _''Roy...'', _he thought, having the need to tell Ike what had happened while he had been gone.

''Let's take a walk outside.'', he decided, grabbing Ike's sleeve and pulling him to the next best exit. Even if he had no idea what was making him do this. Why did Ike have to know about him and Roy? Why did he... feel the need to tell his friend everything?

He didn't understand it. Sometimes, he really didn't understand himself.


	15. Wine red

''Forgive me.'' Marth's eyes were downcast, inspecting the colorful fall leafs on the earthy ground. He still felt incredibly guilty for saying such cruel things to his friend. His best, and only friend. Seriously, in this embarrassing situation, he definitely preferred observing the leafs over meeting Ike's intense gaze. Watching them beneath his feet as the soft wind played with them, mixing all the hues of red, yellow and brown. He blushed as he remembered the happenings of their visit to the beach, and the embarrassing fight. Of course, he was eternally grateful that Ike had saved him, but...when he recalled their touches, their bodily contact, every little gesture... Marth blushed.

''How many times are you going to apologize?'', Ike smiled as he strolled through the small forest next the mansion with Marth, rolling his eyes with playfully faked annoyance, ''I already told you, it's okay. It wasn't your fault.''

''A- Alright...'', the prince mumbled, still evading Ike's looks. Should he tell him now? About Roy and him... Their entire fight had been caused by his letter, anyway. Ike should have the right to know what was going on. But on the other hand, it seemed completely embarrassing to say something like this. Marth remained silent, pondering what to do next.

When he noticed his friend's odd and quiet behavior, Ike halted. ''Hey, Marth...'', he spoke, now with serious concern in his voice, ''What's wrong? Don't you feel well? In that case, we should probably go back.'' Worriedly, he grasped Marth's shoulder, turning him around in order to finally make him look into his eyes. What he saw made him gasp with shock. ''M- Marth, your face is entirely red! Are you having a fever?!'' Ike panicked, resting a hand on his forehead. ''You're really hot! Maybe you should go see the doctor!'', he suggested nervously.

Marth blushed even more at Ike's concern. ''No... Ike, I'm fine. I'm just a bit...dizzy, I think that I think too much, hee hee...'', he tried to shrug it off with a small laugh, unintendedly leaning against the tree behind him. He was really confused. Why did Ike's mere presence embarrass him so much? Was it because of the fact that he knew everything about his love life? Well, almost... Or was it just the fact that they had spent some rather intimate moments together...? No, no that wasn't possible. Ike was his friend, and... and...

''Aah...!'', Marth moaned, pressing his fingers against his temple as he suddenly felt really light-headed. It was just too much for him to take at the moment. His thoughts kept whirling around Roy and Ike, his mind kept reproducing the happenings of the past few days, making his face burn with embarrassment.

''Marth, wha...what's the matter?'', Ike stammered, his heart beating rapidly with the growing anxiety. He didn't have a clue why Marth was acting so weird.

''I... I don't know... it's just... that Roy and... and you... I... don't know.'', Marth inhaled quickly, starting to scratch at the tree's bark nervously. Ike was just... way too close.

''Relax! Calm down, it's alright... it's alright.'', Ike tried to soothe him, but apparently failed as he tried putting his hands on Marth's shoulders in a comforting manner. This only caused him to flinch and blush even more. Noticing that he was only making him feel even more uncomfortable, Ike instantly pulled away, taking a step back.

''Marth, please! Say something, what is it?! Just let me help you-'' ''Why do you care about me so much?'', Marth quietly asked, shyly looking into his friend's eyes. Ike startled. He definitely wasn't prepared for that question.

''Well, you are... you're...'' Actually, he had planned to use the 'you are my most important friend'-excuse again, but somehow this sentence just wouldn't leave his lips. It felt like living a lie. He couldn't stand liars, yet he himself was the greatest of all liars. Keeping his love for Marth secret like this... On the other hand, Marth loved Roy, and that surely wouldn't change soon. Ike bit his lip. He heard a familiar, sly voice in the back of his head, but tried desperately to block it out. _''Come on, Ike. They broke up. You can tell him now. Your true feelings.'' _He carefully looked at Marth from the corner of his eye, the prince's cheeks were nearly as red as the leafs which drifted down gently from the huge maple tree he was pressing himself against.

Even if it was slightly foggy, Marth still possessed this warm light radiating from his face. It was magnificent, never failing to capture him. Ike carefully took a step closer. ''Marth, I...'', he whispered, watching as his eyes moved around rapidly in confusion, ''I am sorry about what happened at the beach. I didn't watch over you properly, I was the one being reckless, not you. I should have never taken you there... but, you know... I just wanted to make you happy. I failed. I am sorry.''

Marth's face suddenly lit up with a serene smile. ''No, you didn't! I am happy. When I am with you, I forget my disease. Thank you! You are so honest with me.'', he said contently.

Ike blushed at that last sentence. He felt like a total jerk. In fact, he wasn't being honest at all. All this time, he had been a mean liar who hid the truth from a person who trusted him completely. It wasn't fair. Marth should know about his feelings for him. Taking a deep breath, and another small step towards him, he finally made the decision. He wouldn't hesitate any longer. Now was the perfect time, the perfect place, to say it!

Shutting his eyes tightly, he tried to blurt it out quickly, but in fact, he stammered like a total retard. ''Ma- Marth, I- I la...li.. I lo-''

''LEAFYYYY TIIIIIIMEEEE!!!''

Marth screamed out in shock when suddenly something crashed into the tree, thrilling it like an earthquake. Ike's eyes widened with surprise as he saw a certain angel tumbling down, laughing like a maniac.

''Oh my goodness, are you alright?'', Marth rushed over to the angel who was rolling on the ground and rustling in the leafs, apparently obsessed with the crinkling sound and the pretty colors. When Marth reached out his hand in order to help him up, he was pulled down into the pile. The prince gasped at this unexpected behavior, startled by the sudden impact.

Ike sighed with annoyance. _''Great. I was __**so**__ close!''_, he thought bitterly. Then, he looked down, seeing Pit rolling on the ground with Marth, giggling in ecstasy. He sighed, rubbing his face in an unnerved manner, simply because this was just _too_ unbelievable. Indeed, he had been about to confess his undying love to Marth, and this stupid angel comes... crashing down from the sky, crushing his self-esteem. _''Never again will __I __gather enough courage for this...ever.''_, Ike thought depressed.

''Pit. What are you doing?'', he asked with another sigh. ''I'm playing! IN THE LEAFS!'', Pit yelled from the ground, still forcing Marth to dig in the foliage with him.

''I see, but can you **please** leave Marth alone?!'', Ike said demandingly with an angry frown. The little angel held, sitting up and blinking at Marth with confusion written in his beaming, blue eyes.

Ike decided to make Pit fly away somehow, hopefully without a restraining order. He really liked him, but unfortunately the angel kept on appearing in moments that were completely inappropriate for him. ''Look, Pit, I have to talk with Marth... so... if you don't mind, could you leave us alone for a-'' ''Ma- Marth?'', Pit spoke quietly, carefully resting his hands on the other one's head, ''I am sorry about what happened to you... I am so sorry!'' He sobbed a little, his small hands trembling, but gently stroking Marth's hair. Ike frowned. What was he talking about? Marth on the other hand just blushed at the sudden kindness that was given to him. It felt so... nice, even if he wasn't exactly sure of what Pit was apologizing for.

''Pit... what do you mean?'', he smiled softly, putting his own hands on Pit's, cautiously detaching them from his head. ''Y- you don't know yet...?'', the angel whispered, now with tears sparkling in his wide eyes.

''Know what?'', Marth laughed slightly, but grew a little concerned as he looked into the angel's face. ''You have tumior! It's a bad, bad disease!'', Pit sobbed, now totally breaking out in tears, throwing his arms around his neck. Marth gasped, helplessly peeking over to his friend with an awkward blush on his cheeks. Ike just stood there, staring at the scene before him with disbelief. How did he know that?! Only Marth, Doctor Mario, Sister Peach, and him were supposed to know about it!

''Eh... eh...'', Marth stuttered, lifting his arms and letting them sink again repeatingly, not really sure if he should push him away or not. He didn't want to seem rude, but it was a bit strange, almost unpleasant for him to be hugged by someone other than Roy. Or... Ike, actually...

''I... do know about it.'', Marth finally decided to say, gently creating some space between them. He smiled a little. ''The question is... why do you know about it?'' Pit sniffed and hurriedly wiped the tears from his eyes. ''A- Aren't you s..sad... or going to cry n... now?''

The smile fell from Marth's face like the leafs which constantly rained down from the trees in the forest. He hadn't expected to be asked something like this, especially not so bluntly. For a second, he felt really sad. Yes, it was tragic, and yes, he could cry now. But... it wouldn't change anything. Of course, he had always tried to ignore the disease, he had let Ike distract him, and he was thankful for having such a wonderful friend. Still, it wasn't good to simply ignore it. He couldn't ignore this any longer. Today, when he had been with Roy, his Roy, he had learned to live for the moment. It was so precious to him, this love, and it felt beautiful to just appreciate it for a while, knowing that it might not be eternal but...ethereal.

Thinking of this, a happy smile enlightened Marth's features. ''You know, Pit... I think that... I have cried enough. Now, it is the time to finally accept it. And live with it. It has become a part of me. This is who I am now.''

Pit looked at him with all his admiration. ''You... you are...so strong!'', he determined with a brittling voice, hugging the prince again. This time, Marth just smiled serenely, patting his back.

Ike grinned contently. Apparently, Marth had just found another friend. It was really a relief to see that he still appreciated life. Nonetheless, Ike pondered where this sudden change of heart had come from. It hadn't even been three days since their argument, and now, he was suddenly in high spirits again. _''Amazing desire to live or__... __ maybe just a mood swing.''_, Ike thought to himself with an affectionate smirk. Seriously, he had been starting to accept and love the 'new' Marth lately. The one who was clumsy, permanently having mood swings, and an occasional stutterer. He didn't care anymore. He hadn't fallen in love with his grace, or his calm temper. Ike had realized that he loved him for who he was – Marth. Unconditionally.

''Say, Marth, did it go well with Roy?'', Pit suddenly questioned. Marth stared at him, his cheeks now having a deep, ruby color. ''H- How did you know about _that_ now? Are you some kind of mind reader or clairvoyant?'', he evaded the inquiry.

''Nooo, didn't Roy tell you? I was with him when he destroyed his room... wow, he really is vivacious! It's impressive! He told me everything...about your tumior...and that you love him, and that he broke up with you, and that he felt bad for doing that! Ooh, he was really upset... You must mean a lot to him! But you know, now that you talked, I bet you are together again'', Pit babbled, making Marth blush more and more with every word, ''Oh and! The letter, it was my idea. It made you happy, didn't it?! Hee hee, it really took him a while to write it! Almost the entire day! He chose every word so carefully. Wow, he threw away so many papers! There were papers all over the floor! I loved playing in them, I love this sound-'' He stopped in order to prove his point through rustling inside the leafs again, laughing merrily. ''Woo hoo!''

Marth stared at him with a face redder than fire. His expression was totally blank, and he just wished that he could turn into a little bug right now, in this second, so that he could hide in the leafs, or fly far, far away, so that no one would ever find him again.

Cautiously, he squinted over to his friend Ike. He certainly had not planned on telling him as bluntly as Pit just had. Definitely not.

Ike looked anything but happy. Wordlessly, he turned around and walked away.


	16. The one who couldn't lie

Link and Zelda were standing in front of Master Hand's office, unsure of what to do next. Since several days, after their little talk with Pit, they had come here repeatedly in order to ask him what was going on with Marth and Ike, since both had been skipping fights and not shown up at the mansion in a while. But the hand had always been busy, and they had been rejected numerous times.

''Come on, Zelda. This time he will not dismiss us again!'', Link said confidently, rising his fist in order to finally knock at the door. He was really determined to find out about Ike's and Marth's absence, no matter what that stupid, brainless hand would do to repel him again. After hearing Pit talk about Marth that way, he had neither slept nor eaten properly and had nearly gotten sick from worrying so much. What if Roy had done something bad to Marth... Like, raped him or something? Link wasn't sure if the redhead would dare to do something like that, but... during those past few days, the craziest scenarios had been running through his and Zelda's head. It was never good when even Pit was getting all serious.

Therefore, Link loudly bumped on the door, receiving only an annoyed sigh from behind it. ''I'm sorry. Today I am very bu-'' Link didn't pay any attention to this, throwing the door open and marching right in there, Zelda following him with a tense expression.

''Forget it. No way. You're going to tell us why Ike and Marth are missing, right **now**.'' Zelda nodded confirmatory. ''Yes. You must tell us about Marth.'', she repeated sharply, her smart eyes focusing on the hand.

''...I guess I don't have a choice.'', he sighed, gesturing with his usual exaggeration. He really didn't want to tell anyone, but...apparently those two wouldn't give up.

''Marth has a disease. A tumor. In his brain.'' Link stared at him with disbelief. ''...What?'', he stammered, ''B- But he's such an awesome fighter! It can't be...'' Zelda searched for his hand, grasping it desperately. It took them a few minutes to realign their thoughts, but soon they came to to the same notion.

''Does... Ike know about this?'', Zelda quietly asked. ''Apart from Marth himself, the doctor and Sister Peach, he is the only one knows about Marth's sickness. And I would prefer it to stay that way'', Master Hand answered, a hidden threat clearly noticeable in the last sentence, ''You two better go now. The fights are starting soon.''

They both nodded obediently, leaving the office behind them as if in a trance. Fighting was probably the last thing that was on their minds right now.

~*~*~*

''Let's play a game, okay?!'', Pit yelled, bouncing up and down like crazy. Since he had just found another friend, the angel was extremely excited about Marth. He flew around him, poking him from time to time, but the prince would just stare at the spot where Ike had stood moments ago. _''What's wrong with him? Why did he leave like that?''_, he thought to himself, his eyes wide with shock. Of course, Marth knew that Ike didn't like Roy very much. But... why couldn't he just be happy for him? _''I thought you were my friend...''_, Marth's gaze dropped to the leafy ground, and suddenly it didn't look as colorful anymore. Why? Why did they have to hate each other? It made everything so difficult.

''Pit, I'm sorry... I need to leave. I'm really sorry.'', Marth excused himself, patting the angel's head before departing. He quickly followed the direction he had seen Ike taking.

''Huh?'', Pit simply looked at Marth with utter confusion in his eyes. ''Take care!'', he yelled beckoning, but it appeared as if he already didn't hear him anymore as he ran away quickly.

''Ike, Ike!!!'', Marth screamed, his heart pounding rapidly, ''Ike, where are you?!'' He almost choked on his short breaths, and felt dizzy for some reason. Indeed, he was really scared of losing Ike as a friend... he meant so much to him. Nothing in the world was worth losing his best friend. No... Ike. Nothing was worth losing his...Ike. Always, he had been there for him, through the good and the bad times, and they had spent so much time together. And now, he just went away without saying anything?! That couldn't be real.

''IKE!'', he kept on yelling his name, his throat was already sore from calling so much. When he had reached the mansion, he looked around, but there was not a trace of Ike. He quickly ran past the building, having not a clue where to look for Ike now. Suddenly, he heard someone calling his name. It came from... the windows.

''Marth! What are you doing?!'' Marth turned his head, his eyes searching for the person the voice belonged to. With surprise, he saw Roy leaning out of his window. ''Marth, wait!'', he yelled, but the prince didn't listen. Looking straight on again, he noticed with a shocked gasp how a white horse came dashing from the stables, on its back... Ike. There were neither reins nor a saddle, and Luna's speed was simply suicidal.

''Luna! Stop!'', Marth screamed, but he fell on deaf ears. He tried to run faster as he saw them disappearing into the distance, but he failed, tripping over his own feet. Falling to the ground, he scraped up the right side of his face, hissing in pain as he saw the blood dripping onto his hand. ''MARTH!'', Roy shouted, quickly climbing out of his window. He jumped from ledge to ledge, leaving the dangerous heights behind him with unbelievable luck. ''Marth... don't move!'', he ordered as he ran to Marth like the wind.

''Oh, Marth... my poor Marth!'', Roy mumbled with tears in his eyes as he caressed his unharmed cheek. In a swift motion, he teared off a piece of his cape, pressing it against the wound. ''Come on, let's go to the hospital! You're hurt!!'' Sustaining Marth, he helped him stand up.

''No...'', Marth murmured, detaching himself from Roy, ''No, Ike... I must talk to him...''

''I won't let you go!'', Roy contradicted, taking him in his arms protectively, ''You're bleeding! Why can't you talk to him later?!''

''NO! First what happened at the beach and now... now this! It's terrible! I am so troublesome! He took Luna, what if he falls and gets hurt, or-''

''Marth. When did you go to the beach _with Ike_, and what _exactly_ happened there?!'', Roy whispered dangerously quiet. When Marth saw the cold anger in Roy's narrowed eyes, he knew that he didn't have a choice. He had to tell him. ''Did that filthy mercenary touch you?! Answer me-''

''He did not! He saved me when I nearly drowned!'', Marth quickly defended Ike. Unfortunately, this statement resulted in the opposite of what he had tried to accomplish.

''YOU NEARLY DROWNED?!'', Roy yelled furiously, ''Was it his fucking stupid idea to take you to the beach? Was it?!''

''N- no, it was all my fault. Roy, please-'', Marth stuttered with fear trembling in his voice. Roy panted and shook with rage, but tried to calm himself down through hugging his prince. He would take care of Ike later on. Oh yes, he would take good care of him.

''Marth. Does it hurt?'', he asked, gently stroking the wound. ''No... It's fine.'', he answered, flinching a little because of the touch though. ''That damn Ike... first, you nearly drown because of him, and now, you fall down so badly. He is only causing harm to you.'', Roy growled, lifting Marth up as if he weighed nothing.

''NO! Roy, you don't understand, please let me go to him! Please!'', he struggled to free himself, but Roy wouldn't let go.

''Marth, you're injured! Your wound has to be treated! Besides, I won't ever let you go to him again. He's dangerous!''

Marth bit his lip. He had to follow Ike. No matter what. He might be in danger. Shutting his eyes tightly, he begged Roy for forgiveness in his thoughts. When Roy didn't seem to be paying any attention to him, Marth secretly let his hand wander towards his head. Then, he quickly removed his tiara and hid it under his shirt.

''Roy... I... forgot my tiara. In the forest. It's... very important to me. Could I please go back and get it? Please...'', Marth looked at him with sparkly eyes, silently begging Roy to let him go.

''I see... It really means that much to you, huh?'', Roy frowned, ''But I won't let you walk back to the forest. What if you fall down again?'' He carefully sat Marth on the ground, leaning him against a tree. ''Press the cloth to the wound. I'll be right back, my love'', Roy whispered, placing a soft parting kiss where the tiara usually had its place before running into the forest as fast as his feet carried him.

Marth sobbed with guilt. He had never lied to Roy before. Still, this was important. Ike was probably in danger right now.

When he couldn't see Roy anymore, he hurriedly stood up, not noticing his tiara drop to the ground from under his shirt. At a rapid pace, he ran into the direction he had seen Ike taking. It was the path to the big field, he remembered that. In the distance, he saw a faint white spot. ''Ike!'', Marth screamed, even if he certainly couldn't hear him. He desperately chased after Luna. ''Stop!''

Ike let Luna do whatever she wanted. He didn't restrain her, he just held tightly onto her long mane. The icy wind and the hairs whipped his face, causing silent tears to flow down his cheeks. To be honest, it really wasn't only because of the sharp breeze, but a result of his broken heart. How could Marth go back to that jerk again? All he ever did was lie and use him! It wasn't fair...

He tried to clear his mind and concentrated on Luna's stressed breathing and her hooves banging on the stubbly ground like a drum. It was so...soothing. They were galloping into infinity. Away from anger, away from hurt, away from love.

Ike let go of Luna's hair, spreading his arms wide open. He was scared, but the adrenaline rush was exactly what he needed right now. What did it matter now, anyway?

**''Marth! I LOVE YOU! AAAH!''**, Ike screamed as loudly as he could, unleashing all his emotions with that one yell. Luna neighed and shook her head, terrified by the sudden noise. Ike lost his balance, falling forward and clutching her neck. _''What...if I let go now?''_, he thought, the tears still streaming down his face, _''Maybe I'll break my neck... Then this heartache will come to an end.''_

Ike shook his head, and before he had realized what he was doing, he felt himself let go, falling into the field. Luna let out a screeching neigh as she noticed that her passenger was gone. She halted sharply, turning around and looking for Ike. When she spotted him lying on his face in the field, she trotted over to him, nudging him with her muzzle.

''It didn't work. Luna... I'm sorry...'', Ike sobbed, throwing his arms around the horse and starting to weep bitterly.

''IKE!'', Marth shouted. He had witnessed the fall, and now grew seriously concerned. He felt himself tremble with fright, his whole body was shaking violently and he was incredibly dizzy. Trying to block that out, he stumbled across the stubble field, towards Ike. It was like a nightmare. He ran faster and faster, but Ike seemed to diverge himself farther with every step.

Finally though, Marth saw the figure more clearly. ''Ike, are you hurt? Please be fine!'', he screamed, tripping again, for he couldn't focus on walking and Ike at the same time. Still, he quickly stood up, and floundered to Ike. Then, he definitely lost his poise, falling right into his friend's back and hugging him tightly.

''Ike...'', he panted heavily.

~*~*~*

''Marth, I looked for it everywhere, but I simply couldn't fi-'', Roy stopped when he saw that the place under the tree where he had left Marth was empty. ''Eh... Marth?!''

His heart skipped a beat when Marth was nowhere around it, either. Suddenly, he saw something glisten on the ground.

''You are the most horrible liar ever, my prince.'', Roy grumbled with a disappointed frown as he picked up the tiara lying on the ground, abandoned.


	17. Jealousy

''Ike...'', Marth whispered, completely out of breath, ''...Are you...alright?'' He weakly tightened the grip he had on his friend. He was still leaning against his back, totally exhausted.

''Marth, what are you doing here?'', Ike stammered, turning around as he blushed madly. _''Did he hear me?!''_, he thought with discomposure. When he noticed Marth's face though, he gasped in shock. Blood was dripping from his chin, his cheeks were red as if he had a fever, and he panted like he had run for his life. What he saw just made him want to cry and scream with sorrow and anger towards himself.

''Marth... Oh Marth, what happened to you...'', Ike breathed, carefully taking Marth's head in his shaking hands. As he tried to restrain the tears, he felt a heavy knot building in his throat, but soon, he realized that suppressing it was useless. ''It's all...my fault'', Ike sobbed, lowering his head, the tears now entirely overflowing. ''Marth... Forgive me... I am sorry... So sorry...''

Marth smiled warmly. ''Don't...be.'', he mumbled, tenderly wiping the thick teardrops from his friend's eyes. ''Ike... I saw you falling down from Luna. It looked dangerous! Are you hurt?'', he asked with concern.

Ike's eyes shot open, nervously searching for hints in Marth's expression. What if he had... really heard him?! The mixed emotions of fear and hope started brewing within him, making him feel sick and turning his face chalky-white. ''D- Did you... h- hear...it?!'', he stuttered, almost fainting from the awful shock. Still, a part of him prayed that Marth had picked up on the noisy confession he had made in his total frustration.

''Hear... what?'', Math asked a a confused look in his eyes. Ike's heart dived when he said that. For a tiny moment, he had really hoped that Marth had heard him. Still, it was stupid to be so oblivious to the fact that he loved Roy. And that he was Roy's boyfriend, apparently.

''N- Nothing...'', Ike murmured, looking away with an ashamed, pink tint across his cheeks. How could he be so egoistic? Marth loved Roy. Period. There was no room for him. Probably he should just finally accept this and be happy for his friend. Why wouldn't his heart let this go? Ike quickly remembered Marth's bad condition and tried to erase his selfish thoughts from his mind.

''I'm fine, but what about you? You're bleeding! What happened? Come on, let's go to the doctor.'', Ike suggested worriedly.

''It's okay... I just fell down a bit. It doesn't hurt'', Marth laughed reassuringly, but Ike couldn't be fooled. ''Marth...'', Ike whispered yearningly. What if he just kissed him now? His windswept hair looked so adorable... his sweet, smiling eyes enchanted him, and his lips, they looked so seductively soft. Ike leaned forward, approaching him barely noticeable. He stared into the light blue irises with all his love, but he only met bewilderment. Slowly, his hands wandered to the back of Marth's head, cautiously pulling him just a tiny bit closer.

**''You fucking mercenary asshole!''**, Roy yelled, running towards them as fast as if death himself was on his heels, **''What the hell are you doing?!''** With a loud scream, he threw himself against Ike, knocking him over on the hard, frozen earth.

''Roy!'', Marth called, but Roy was too busy trying to suffocate his archenemy. He couldn't believe his eyes. _His_ little Marth preferred that filthy bastard over him?!

Preposterous! What a grotesque parody of love!

Cursing horribly, he tried to choke Ike with his bare hands. ''R..oy...'', Ike coughed, trying to get him off somehow. His nails were digging deeply into the flesh of his attacker's hand, but he didn't react at all. The frenzy flared in his eyes, flaming red her fell into his face.

''Stop...it!'', Ike panted, finally pushing Roy away with all his might. Surprised by the sudden power, he hit the ground without breaking his fall. Scowling angrily, he didn't hesitate to jump back onto his feet again. His opponent also used the time to quickly stand up, quietly peeking over to a completely frozen Marth. They faced each other with an incredible tension crinkling between them, as if the air had been electrified.

''Roy, please. I beg you to stop.'', Ike spoke determinedly, casting another concerned glance at Marth, who seemed totally shocked. His empty eyes were staring at the scene in front of him with denial, and it was easy for Ike to tell that he probably thought all this was just a terrible nightmare. Or at least prayed that it was.

For that sentence, Roy only spared a dry, amused laughter. ''You beg me?!'', he chortled, slowly unsheathing his sword, ''Oh, I will make you beg more... You will beg for your own death!'' The metal hissed silently as it made its way out of the sheath like a snake creeping out of the grass, waiting its turn to strike. The sword's owner giggled just as venomously as itself.

''Roy. I don't want to fight you.'' Even if he said that, Ike cautiously placed his hand on the hilt of his own sword. Just in case...

''I don't care!'', Roy snarled, pointing his blade at his rival and taking two painfully slow steps towards him. Before even realizing what exactly was happening, Ike found himself slapping it away with his own sword. He felt something welling up inside of him, something that he could hardly control, something that he had almost forgotten he possessed.

It was the most vigorous rage he had ever experienced.

Roy's expression turned taut with anger, and he immediately lunged for a fast hit. Ike dodged that easily, for Roy's wild eyes gave away what he intended to do next. He _was _surprised at the strength behind the hasty strikes though.

Roy's attacks were beyond aggressive. Ike was so busy parrying the quick blows that he barely had any time to riposte. But when he finally found an opening in his offensive strategy, he managed to push his sword further, grazing Roy's leg. With surprise he noticed himself restraining the stab as to not cut him. His foe on the other hand seemed to aim for serious hits. The two swords kept on clashing for a while, the two rivals seemingly on a balanced level, the other one prevailing from time to time. Nevertheless, except for a few small bruises, they weren't really able to injure each other severely.

Up to the point where Roy slammed his entire body weight against Ike as a total surprise attack, making him drop his weapon because of the tremendous impact. His eyes widened with shock as he was flabbergasted at that unfair move. He hadn't expected Roy to get his hands involved! Wasn't this supposed to be a clean battle, steel versus steel?!

Ike wanted to kick himself in the head for his idiotic naivete when he felt a sharp pain stinging in his left upper arm. He was about to fall backwards onto the hard ground, if Roy hadn't grabbed him by his collar. The redhead smiled sadistically as he saw Ike's face twisted in pain. Holding his sword threateningly close to his neck, Roy pulled him closer.

''I know you love him...'', he whispered into his ear, the smile abruptly dropping from his lips. The cold blade grazed the nape of Ike's neck, baying for blood.

''...M- more... than anything.'', Ike mumbled, now looking his enemy straight in the eye, just to notice with satisfaction how the smug grin turned into a dead serious scowl.

''You don't deserve him. You endanger him!'', Roy hissed, unintendedly twisting the tip of his sword into Ike's flesh. That kept a straight face, seeing his victory coming. Even if that son of a bitch stabbed him to death now, he would still win. Roy would notice what a selfish monster he actually was, and Marth as well. Maybe it was for the best if he just killed him now.

**''STOP!''**, Marth screeched, suddenly snapping out of his daze and running towards the two. On the way, he pulled out his sword with shaky hands, almost dropping it.

''M- Marth...'', Roy gasped, letting go of Ike with surprise, which made him stumble backwards a little. Marth firmly grasped his sword with both hands, jumping in front of Ike. ''Leave...him... alone.'', he growled furiously and pointed his blade at his lover, still trembling with fear and nervousness. There was a weird fire burning in his eyes, and it definitely wasn't something that Roy was familiar with. Menacing... strange... bizarre.

Marth didn't know what had gotten into him when he lunged, trying to hit Roy with his sword. It was just... seeing him treat Ike like that made him go berserk. He tried again and again, a part of him just wanted to see Roy hurt. Just a little bruise, a cut, he wanted to see that sword penetrate his flesh. For some odd reason, it felt like Roy deserved being in pain. He had tortured him so much, made him cry and scream. And Ike... he had hurt Ike.

With an enraged yell, he hit Roy's blade with his own again and again.

''Marth, please, quit it! I don't want you to hurt yourself! PLEASE!'', Roy begged as he continued to dodge Marth's mindless blows, trying his best to keep the distance between them as big as possible in order to make sure that Marth was safe. He had no idea what had come over his prince, but that surely was _not_ him. It seemed like a completely different person. _His_ Marth would never, ever attack him like that.

''Marth, stop!'', Ike shouted from behind, not daring to interfere, though. The risk of hurting him while doing so was just way too high. If two sharp swords were involved, it was the best if there was no third person making the situation even more dangerous. ''Roy, do something!!!'', he screamed, holding his bleeding arm. Roy tried to restrain Marth, but he just wouldn't stop attacking him. Disarming him was too dangerous...

He bit his lip in desperation. Wasn't there anything he could do?!

Marth felt himself get hotter and hotter with every single strike. It just made him so incredibly angry! What was he thinking?! Ike was his friend, and his friendships were none of his business, after all.

He wanted to hit him with his sword so much more, but all of a sudden, he felt his arms become as heavy as rocks. His legs didn't do what he told them to anymore, and he stumbled over his own feet, crashing right into the other's chest.

Roy quickly threw his sword away as he saw him falling forward, missing the blade by a hairbreadth. In a swift motion, he grabbed Marth's sword, twisting it so that he wouldn't get speared.

The black haze the prince was already familiar with by now returned once again, suffocating him in darkness. He felt himself go limp, his body wouldn't listen to him anymore, and there was no need to fight it. With a resigned sigh, he fell against Roy's warm chest, noticed himself dropping his weapon and the strong arms wrapping themselves around him.

The hollow voices calling his name didn't make their way into his consciousness anymore.

Neither did the image of Ike running towards him, tears streaming down his face.


	18. Fragile

_''Marth''_, Ike's lips moved, but there was just no voice coming out, not even the tiniest whisper. There was no strength to scream, to speak, barely any power to breathe anymore. He wanted to run to his love, but he simply couldn't. His legs wouldn't move. They felt so weak... so numb. His body, his mind had gone numb. It was so unreal. Horrible. He had tried to block it out all this time. Tried to pretend that everything was normal. To go on like before, never thinking of the consequences. In this very moment, it seemed so ignorant, so arrogant, so egoistic.

Marth was limply lying in Roy's arms with sheer exhaustion written in his pale face. The closed eyelids didn't even flicker a bit. It was a fragile angel...one who had fallen and lost his innocence. Once serene and carefree, but now full of heartache and pain. Why had all this happened to him?

Why...

What was it worth fighting for? Love? Friendship? Apparently he could not have both. What should he live for? To see the two men he loved the most destroy each other? Their ship was sinking. It had been swamped with pungent saltwater for long enough, and now it was eventually going down. And all the three of them were going to drown. Still, in the end, it didn't matter. He was going to die, he wanted to. This cruel disease had finally managed to take everything from him. There was nothing left. What should he live for? His existence was ridiculous.

''Hey, wake up!'', Roy's voice was trembling with fear as he shook Marth's shoulders in a desperate attempt to make him open his eyes again. Feeling totally helpless, he tried pinching him in the arm, but that didn't make his prince wake up either. Why had he attacked him!? Fighting Marth was the last thing he had wanted to do! Besides, he wouldn't have killed Ike anyway. Hurting and torturing him, seeing him suffer was way more satisfying anyway. So why had Marth gone berserk like that? With that ugly disease even. He should, like, go to bed or something and sleep himself healthy instead of being such a dreamer, trying to help Ike just because he was a bit lonely. Why didn't he want to face reality? Roy didn't get it at all. How could a person be so irrational, so moony?

''Come on, open your eyes, my prince...'', he whispered, tenderly brushing the tousled, blue strands of hair out of Marth's face, his shaking fingers still lingering on one porcelain cheek. There was no reaction, not even a flinch. ''M- My Marthy'', Roy sobbed, ''I'm so sorry...''

His throat stung, his body was shaking violently, and he felt a pain worse than what the sharpest sword could do. He gasped for air as he noticed that he was doing something that he hadn't done in years. ''MARTH!'', he called, but the scream was hoarse and brittle. Hot tears were rolling down his face, and he couldn't help but embrace the body in his arms with all his strength. Why did his heart hurt so much? Why did he care for this person?! Everyone was just trying to make him suffer. He shouldn't trust anyone. He shouldn't care for anyone! And they were all the same. Marth tortured him, just like the others. Constantly threatening to leave him alone in this cruel world. Roy had sworn that he would never love again. He didn't want to feel the pain of loss... no, not again. It was the best to keep your heart to yourself. But still, Marth was...so very different. He was an exception.

Crying with incredible despair, all he did was repeating his name over and over again, even if Marth could not hear him. He hugged him sobbingly and buried his wet face in Marth's soft chest. How nicely he smelled. How warm he was.

Ike looked at the scene in front of him, and felt his heart tear like a pathetic, little piece of paper. So many different emotions were building up inside of him, and he was completely confused at himself. He was scared for Marth, he wanted to cry and scream, but at the same time, he felt something strange. It was... pity. For Roy. Even if he had just tried to kill him a few moments ago, and he probably hated him like poison, he still felt sorry for him. It was absurd, not to mention totally dewy-eyed.

Slowly, he stumbled towards the couple, still holding his injured arm and trying in vain to stop the blood from flowing. ''Roy...'', he gasped, sinking on his knees in front of him as he panted because of the exhaustion. Letting go of his wound, he gently rested his trembling, blood-smeared hand on Roy's shoulder. ''...We have to... bring him to the infirmary.'' For some reason, it was strange to see his rival cry. Logically, he should be gleeful, but he was feeling none of that kind. All he felt was guilt. It was his fault, wasn't it? If it weren't for him, Roy and Marth would be happy together right now. He was redundant, and obstacle. There was no room for him, on top of that, he was the cause of Marth's pain. Because of him, he was unconscious and injured. Not to mention emotionally utterly confused and churning. Ike swallowed hard. It was really his fault...

Quickly shaking his head, he realized that there was no time for the blame game now. They had to help Marth!

''Roy, get your act together! We must go now!'', Ike said sternly, shaking Roy's shoulder with force. All he received was a strangled sob. ''H- He'll die'', he whined, grasping Marth tightly, ''We can't do anything...''

''What are you talking about?!'', Ike growled angrily, ''He fainted, we have to bring him to the hospital. Or do you want him to die?!''

Roy furrowed his brow with anger now. ''Of course, you asshole! I'm not in love with him or anything'', he spat out with venomous sarcasm. The poisonous words rolled from his tongue as quickly as the salty tears from his damp eyes.

''Look. Fighting isn't gonna get us anywhere now. We need to work together.'', Ike finally managed to mumble through gritted teeth. ''In case you forgot, you damaged my arm, so I'm pretty useless.'' He had intended to fling an insult like 'cruel bastard', 'lying jerk' or 'perverted dumb ass' after that, but most likely that wouldn't be going to help make Roy team up with him fast. This was serious. Ike couldn't endanger Marth's life even more just because he wasn't able to swallow his stupid pride.

''Work... together? Forget it. I don't 'work together' with anyone. Especially not with egoistic, creepy, boyfriend stealing rats like you.''

''_Boyfriend stealing_?! Excuse me?!'', Ike repeated disbelievingly, ''What do you mean by-''

''Oh, oh, don't you think I haven't seen what you were trying to do, you filthy mercenary son of a bitch! **You were trying to kiss MY Marth, right in front of my own eyes!**'', Roy interrupted, now yelling thus protectively clinging to his lover.

''I- Well- He- ...That's not important now!'' He tried to distract, hiding his awkwardly hot cheeks through _casually _wiping over his face with his sleeve. For no reason at all.

''I'll never work with you.'' Roy dried his eyes as if nothing had ever happened and grabbed Marth's arms. Confused at the other's actions, Ike questioningly lifted an eyebrow. ''What are you trying to do?'', he asked suspiciously.

''I'm carrying him to the hospital.'', Roy answered, lifting Marth up with fierce determination.

''Why don't you take the horse...?''

The question lingered in the air like a smelly cloud of perfume as the red haired boy froze completely, interrupting what he was currently doing in order to stare into Ike's flummoxed face.

''None of your business.'', he simply replied after a brief pause. Nevertheless, he grew a bit concerned if Ike had noticed something... if he had, that would be utterly embarrassing. Degrading, a total shame.

Roy resisted the weird stare that Ike gave him as an answer, but his fingertips did start getting a bit tingly from the nervousness.

''I will let you take care of Marth. But you WILL take the horse'', Ike grumbled and stood up while holding his stinging wound, ''You're way too slow. Luna can get you there in five minutes. I want Marth to be safe. I think there is no need to repeat how much he means to me.''

''SHUT UP.'' Roy turned around and started walking off into the direction of the mansion. ''Hey!'', Ike gasped, following him quickly, ''I told you: take the horse, you idiot! You and your idiotic pride! Just because you don't want to do as I say, you endanger Marth's life. You should be ashamed of yourself, you little, lying-''

**''I can't ride!''** There. He just spat it right out. The embarrassing truth. That stupid Ike could have it, he could laugh at him now, it didn't matter to him. Fine, Ike could go ahead and laugh at his red cheeks. All he wanted right now was that Marth woke up again.

What happened then, though, Roy wouldn't have ever expected that. He watched Ike as he simply nodded, guiding that big white... animal to him and Marth. Intuitively, he clutched his boyfriend, not sure if it was his protective instinct or his own cowardice.

''Don't fear. She's kind.'' Roy swore himself not to flinch, and he didn't. Maybe it was because Ike didn't make a big deal out of it. Easily he swung himself onto the horse, apparently without any problems – despite his injury. For a moment, Roy felt a tiny amount of guilt in this weird mixture of emotions that were whirling around inside of him.

''Take my hand.'' Ike offered him his healthy arm, but of course, that moron hesitated in doing what he said. And the second in which Ike had planned to just pull him up without any other warning was the one in which Roy firmly grasped his arm, mounting Luna with Marth slung over his shoulder.

Ike hissed at the sharp pain, but then remembered that this was for Marth. They needed to help him. The horse was seemingly exhausted by the heavy weight, but they would all have to work together now. It was all or none.

As much as it hurt Ike to do so, he started chasing Luna down the road to the mansion like a maniac. He felt Roy shiver against his back and pulling his arms tightly around his waist, which made him blush a little with awkward embarrassment. The pain in his arm was getting worse and worse, and it was very shaky, holding himself on the horse with only a single hand. No reins, no saddle, and a fast canter.

''I'll rip you apart when this is over, you bastard...'', Roy dangerously whispered as he dismounted the horse once they had _finally_ reached the mansion. Ike bit back a mean retort to that. He really didn't want to lower himself to that level. He had done this for Marth, and for no one else. It was enough if he himself knew this.

Therefore, the mumbled death threats he was receiving on the way to the infirmary went in one ear and out the other, he was only concerned about Marth's frail expression. So delicate... so helpless. It made him want to squirm with pain and self-loathing.

''OH MY!'', a female scream shrilled, the sound of heels pounding against hard floor approaching quickly. ''What happened to him?! What have you done...'', Sister Peach immediately pulled Marth out of their arms, carefully lifting him on a soft bed, just to turn back to Ike and Roy again. Her face was twisted with anger. ''What did you do to him?!'', she screeched, and before they actually knew what was happening, they both received a hard slap in the face.


	19. Dreams feel so good

''Are you guys effing crazy?! What did you do- Oh, I won't even ask! I can tell by just looking at you. I'm not THAT stupid. An open wound on the arm? A bloody sword? You guys are the worst of the worst. Don't you even care one bit about Marth's health? I don't know just _what_ you did, but apparently it wasn't good for Marth. Not at all.''

Peach was panting with rage, ranting and raving on Ike and Roy like no tomorrow. She was utterly mad at both of them. How dare they upset Marth like that? And she had a pretty good idea of what most likely had happened. Apparently there had been a fight between Roy and Ike.

It also wasn't very hard to guess why. For her, at least. Marth had been in the hospital quite a few times, therefore he had been visited, of course. To her, it was crystal clear that his only visitors were two admirers, and it was also self-evident that they loathed each other like cats and dogs.

Roy rubbed his burning cheek with a grumpy expression, glaring at the blond girl. What the hell was she thinking? She couldn't just hit him! Mind you, he was still _Roy_. No one was allowed to treat him like that. He peeked over to his rival to see if he was upset about the slap as well, but Ike was just looking to the floor shamefacedly.

Seriously, he was such an idiot. Under no circumstances he should have let Roy provoke him to a fight. It was primitive and completely below him. He really didn't want to be on the same, violent level as Roy. There should always be a way to solve problems without a physical fight. Surely Marth hated him now.

But there was one thing he did not understand. Why had he tried to defend him? He should be on his lover's side, not his. Maybe he had just been scared that Roy would really do something bad. Perhaps it had been just another, hefty mood swing.

Still, Ike couldn't help but hoping that there had been...something more resonating in Marth's actions. He was ashamed of thinking that way. However, he simply couldn't do anything against it.

After all, he loved him to death. And he was dying to see Marth return his love.

''...completely insane to upset poor Marth like this. You two should get punished by Master Hand for that! Now I'll go get the doctor, and you better stay right where you are. Don't even think of moving one inch!'', Peach snarled at them, rushing off in order to find Mario.

''What a bitch.'', Roy mumbled pissed off as soon as the nurse was gone. That Peach sure got a nerve. He sure would kick her ass in a match someday for that slap in the face.

Ike's depressed gaze wandered to Marth who was lying on the bed, still unconscious. It looked like he was just sleeping peacefully. Like a porcelain doll. Or a pure angel. With a gasp, Ike noticed Marth shiver slightly. Was he cold? Probably he needed a blanket.

Totally forgetting Roy's presence, Ike stepped to the bed, carefully pulling the sheets out from under Marth's legs as to gently cover him. Once he was done affectionately tucking him in, Ike reached out to caress Marth's face.

''Don't.'', Roy quietly breathed. Ike didn't want to admit that he had heard the small voice and simply didn't react to it. It didn't matter anymore now. Roy had figured out everything on his own, that sly bastard. If he really was that smart, he should know what was going to happen. Besides, he should also know that there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it.

His hand connected with Marth's visage, the thumb lightly brushed the soft cheek. A kind smile touched Ike's lips as he opened his mouth to whisper those three little words that caused him so much heartache and pain, but made him so eternally happy at the same time.

''I lo-''

''He means the world to me.'', Roy raised his weak voice after swallowing hard. ''At first, it was just a game, but now... I can't live without him. I need him so much. I've never loved someone like I loved him. Ike, please. Don't take him from me...please.''

Ike was confused. He looked at Roy and wondered if that was just play or not. It was so hard to tell. He knew that Roy was a perfect actor and liar, but this time, he really wasn't sure of what to believe. Even if he was being sincere...yes, even if these tears rolling down his face were real, why should he care? Deep inside, he knew that there were chances for him to win Marth's heart...somehow... He would just have to figure out how.

Why should it matter to him if Roy honestly loved Marth after all? He had caused him so much pain.

That was the man who had lied to Marth.

The man who had only played with him out of boredom.

The man who hurt Marth so much that he wanted to die.

Ike's mien turned dark with disgust. _''Yeah, that's right, Ike. He doesn't deserve him. Take him! Take him away from him. He should suffer...''_ The gleeful voice inside Ike's head kept on whispering these things, and it was by far a lot louder than his better half which told him that Roy was still human.  
The small whispers turned into loud screams. _''He's had enough chances!''_

He scowled at Roy while his hand still lingered tenderly on Marth's cheek.

''Well, you should have thought about that _before_ you broke his heart.'' With that, Ike leaned down and placed a chaste kiss upon Marth's lips. When he touched them with his own, it felt like little, electric jolts were shooting through his veins. If only Marth opened his eyes now...

Roy turned away with tears in his eyes, clutching his chest in immense pain as his heart stung terribly. Why was he doing this to him? He wanted to yell a thousand words at Ike, to scream and fight and hit him, but he was left speechless. Wasn't Ike supposed to be the... good guy? What he did right now was just cruel. Roy knew that he had made irreparable mistakes, but still, everyone deserved at least _some_ mercy, despite what they had done.

''No, no, please... no more...'', Roy sobbed, as he tried in vain to cover his eyes with his hands, but he just couldn't stop looking at Ike kissing his Marth. Was he even still his Marth? His little ice prince... his precious darling...

The nice, happy world that he had created together with Marth just seemed to be shattering like a mirror that portrayed their fake, little dreamworld. Who had torn that mirror down from the wall and had thrown it on the cold floor of truth, leaving the sharp, broken pieces on the ground to reflect the painful reality? Who was the cause of this anarchy?!

Ike...?

No, it was him. He himself had caused this. He should have never lied to Marth. The mirage he had created had been destroyed by himself. His frantic fear of losing Marth, his morbid jealousy, and the fragile house of lies he had built were the reason why he would eventually lose Marth to Ike.

And he knew that this was true. There was no need to deny it. Roy had always known that this prince had feelings for this mercenary that he wasn't even aware of. He looked at Marth sleepily opening his eyes, looking around himself with confusion. His gaze rested on Ike who had prudently stepped away from the bed before the awakening, and Roy noticed how Marth's lips curved upwards a tiny bit.

''Ike... are you...alright?'', Marth murmured with half-closed lids, drowsily trying to stand up. ''Oh...'', he gasped as he got caught in the blanket, tumbling over and hitting his face on the mattress.

''Hey, don't get up!'', Ike said nervously, walking towards him again.

''But I want to...'', Marth protested tiredly, having trouble pronouncing the few words correctly.

''No, you don't want to... You want to lie down and rest...'', Ike determined, cautiously pushing his friend down on the bed again.

''Hmm... no...you're... not fair...'' Even if he mumbled that, he sighed resignedly and stopped struggling. He had no idea where he was, but as long as Ike was with him, everything would be fine.

''You're right, I'm not fair.'', Ike admitted as he sat down on the edge of the bed, soothingly patting Marth's head. ''Sleep now.''

The prince nodded obediently and closed his eyes again. He felt really tired... his eyes were so incredibly heavy. But somehow, he just couldn't sleep. Ike's warm hand lingered on his forehead and he listened to his friend's calm breathing. Hopefully he was alright... Roy had cut him in the arm, hadn't he? Roy... he really didn't know what he was supposed to think of him now.

Trying to relax, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Even if he was curious, he didn't want to disappoint Ike, so he kept his eyes closed and pretended to be sleeping. The hand was removed from him, the bed shifted slightly as Ike stood up again.

''He... woke up for a second, but I told him to go to sleep again. He looked totally exhausted. Fell asleep instantly.'' When Marth heard Ike's quiet voice say that, he started feeling a bit guilty for faking it. Yet he tried his best not to move so that he'd stay believable.

''That's good. I actually need to tell you both something.'', Dr. Mario nodded into the direction of Roy, wordlessly asking him to come closer. While Roy hesitantly approached the doctor, Sister Peach started cleaning and bandaging Ike's wound. It would have hurt him like hell if it weren't for Mario's dead serious expression distracting him from the pain.

Peach didn't need much time to fix his arm, and quietly left the room after treating him. Somehow, he felt that something was going on that neither him nor Roy were aware of.

''Roy, I think you have figured out on your own what's going on. Obviously there is no need to tell you about Marth's disease.'' The redhead just nodded silently.

''...However, there is something that I need to tell you. It's that... Master Hand gave me time to find a cure until winter. If I haven't found a cure by then...'' The doctor paused to take a deep breath, rubbing his temples and suddenly looking very tired.

''Then **what**?! Get to the point!'', Roy hissed, restraining himself from grasping Mario's shoulders and shaking the words out of him.

''...then he will be sent home to Altea. But...chances are that there is no cure. I know that you both care very deeply for him, and apparently Marth needs you like bread or water to survive. It's not my decision to send him home. I am totally against it, but... I can't change the rules. I hope that I can enforce the proposal of leaving him here until he...''

Dr. Mario stopped and looked away as he saw the petrified faces of Roy and Ike staring at him with disbelief.

''I'm sorry.'', with that, he turned around and left them there in the room, together with the bad news. Roy slowly turned around, looking at Marth with unbelievable grief.

''Liars... all liars...!'', Roy sobbed, clutching Ike desperately. There was nothing left to say. Ike threw his arms around Roy, and started crying sorrowfully. The two enemies just stood there holding each other the only thing they had in common was their shared pain.

Marth shut his eyes tightly. He didn't want to hear anything. He didn't want to see anything.

Silent tears were overflowing, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. He tried not to listen to Ike's and Roy's crying, but it was impossible.

Oh, how he wished he would have never opened his eyes.


	20. And then there was snow

The silence was the most terrible thing. When Roy or Ike were wordlessly sitting by the white hospital bed Marth was lying on all the time. Right there, on that little white chair by the sickeningly clean window with the blindingly white curtains. When the faint whisper of the icy wind blowing through the small hole in that window was the only thing that could be heard. Without even purposely observing any of this, he had noticed these things inadvertently during the time he was spending in the infirmary. He had stopped counting the hours. He had stopped counting the transitions from sunlight to moonlight.

All he ever did was staring out of this stupid window.

Without reason.

Without thinking.

He had stopped thinking long ago. In his mind, he was already dead. He lived for nothing. He didn't even think of suicide anymore. There was just...emptiness. No love, no hate, nothing.

The first few days had been torture. The doctor had kept on examining him, but refused to tell him what was going on. However, Marth never asked any questions, he never complained about the pain either.

The days after the agony had been the ones of ignorance. He didn't know what on earth was going on, he didn't understand how his body even worked, and frankly, _he did not want to know._

His life just went on and on, but he didn't live anymore. He _couldn't_ truly live anymore. It was hard for him to remember the sound of his voice since he had stopped talking so long ago. Laughter...ringing, soulful laughter, right from the heart... he didn't even dream of that any longer. Crying...sobbing... that tight, unpleasant feeling in his throat before the tears finally came out...he had completely forgotten about it.

The happy butterflies that started floating around in his stomach had died. When he looked at the person he had once believed to love, he felt nothing. It didn't even shock, scare, or surprise him. He was just as dead as those butterflies.

And the warm, safe feeling he had experienced every time Ike was around...it was gone, as well. Nothing was left. All his emotions were frozen. They were locked away, far, far away. Maybe so far that there was no chance of ever finding them again. It was so incredibly cold.

Marth's just recently opened eyes stared blankly into the distance, out of the little window. The sky was still rather dark, with only few twinkling stars there to decorate the light black firmament. Tiredly, he looked to the side to find a sleeping Ike sitting on the small chair, a sad frown on his motionless, worried face. Honestly, Marth didn't know for how long he had gazed at Ike, but time wasn't a very valuable thing to him anymore. All he ever did was drowsily lying in his bed all day long, falling asleep and then waking up again. Over and over.

Sometimes, he heard the faint voice of Ike or Roy, but he didn't answer, nor did he listen. He pretended to be deaf, and blind. And mute.

When Marth averted his gaze from the sleeping figure beside him, facing the window again, his dull eyes widened with surprise. A small gasp escaped his dry throat and he weakly sat himself up. The glass of the window was a lot foggier than usual, but that wasn't what had caught his attention. He leaned in to take a closer look.

What he saw made his breath increase with anxiety. Everything was white. So white... but, it was so much different from the clinical white in the sterile room he was living in at the moment. It was so incredibly pure...untainted...natural.

Was this really... snow? Already...? The time had passed so quickly. To Marth, the time when he had visited the beach with Ike seemed like yesterday. He didn't dare blinking, because he feared that the beautiful image before him would fade. It had been such a long time since he last saw snow!

''I... want to..see...'', he whispered, carefully pushing back the blanket. He shivered a little. The short sleeves of his white pajamas really weren't pleasant in this weather. Marth swung his legs over the edge of the bed, his bare feet touching the cold floor. It was a little faster than it should have been, and he saw huge, black spots instead of the white snow now. He dizzily stumbled towards the window, almost crashing into it when he felt really bad all of a sudden. Supporting himself by resting his hands on the smooth glass, he waited until his vision cleared again.

He pressed his nose against the cool pane, eyes widening at the beauty in front of him. It was wonderful... the whole scenery of the field looked so different with that white mass on it. If only he could see a little more through the breath clouded window...

Absently, he raised his finger, pushed it on the glass, and started drawing something random. When his eyes focused on what he had just drawn, his cheeks slightly assumed color. It was the shape of a heart... But... who was this heart still beating for? He didn't know. Maybe he still loved him... but... he was pretty sure that his love for Roy was fading like the fogged place on the window. Like this little heart there...

Marth's expression turned sad again. With his palm, he erased his drawing from the window again, gaining a clearer vision of the scenery. What he saw was simply amazing. He blinked a little, trying to make sure that this was not a dream. The sky looked like it was on fire.

The prettiest shades of orange, red, pink and purple decorated the landscape and made the white snow sparkle like diamonds. Marth's breath hitched in his throat as he grasped the pane nervously. This was the first time during those painful days that he was excited about something again.

''I need...to.. touch it..!'', he mumbled, fumbling around the window catch before opening it. The ice cold air made him shiver, but it also felt incredibly good to breathe fresh oxygen for once instead of that sickeningly clean hospital stink. Really... he needed more of this. The cool air was like a drug to him. It made him feel... alive. Breathing fast with anticipation, he clumsily climbed out of the window, into the frostiness of winter.

He shuddered with delight as his naked feet came in contact with the snow. So..._wonderfully cold._ He wanted to feel more of it, so he spread his arms widely, running into the distance with a smile on his lips. Frozen...

Oh yes, it was beautifully cold. So deadly cold. If he died now, it would be a nice last view. The sky was slowly losing its magnificent colors, turning into a light grey again. This firework of colors had only been momentarily. Now, everything was white again. Just white.

The smile fell from Marth's face like the snowflakes from the sky. He stopped running, looking back to the footprints he had made moments ago. The new snow that had started raining down was slowly covering them up again. If he didn't walk back right now, they would soon completely disappear, and there would be no way to find back to the mansion.

He sobbed with the sudden realization that came to him when he thought of _where_ he was about to go back to.

Marth's head slowly turned away from the tracks, and he took a few steps further.

Did he really want to go back...there...? Back to the sad faces that looked at him as if he were already dead? Back to the unreal white? When he could also stay here, and just fall asleep...? He had real white, now. This was reality... not that little room. No one could lock him away like this... no one... he was free! FREE!

''NOOOOO!!!'', Marth screamed at the top of his lungs, sinking on his knees, into the field. ''WHY ME?! WHY!!!'', he cried, throwing himself into the snow now. He was shaking violently from the terrible coldness and the fear, the sadness that overcame him every time he looked into the future. All the words that had been left unspoken... he had to unleash them now. He was yelling like no tomorrow, repeating the word 'why' over and over again.

Up until his voice eventually gave out, and he just let himself fall into the snow like a lifeless doll, tears still lingering in his sad eyes.

~*~*~

When an ice cold breeze grazed Ike's neck, he slowly opened his tired eyes, sleepily looking to Marth's bed immediately out of habit. Finding it empty made him wide awake all of a sudden. ''Marth?'', he mumbled, quickly getting up from the chair, frantically searching for Marth in the room with his eyes. Where was he!?

Suddenly, there was this breeze again. With a sense or foreboding, Ike slowly turned to the window, noticing that it was opened widely. Seeing the faint tracks on the ground, he instantly knew what was going on. ''Marth...''

He jumped out of the window, running after the footprints as fast as he could, but it was hard to focus on them, since they were fading more and more. Ike's heart pounded stronger with every step, with every snowflake floating down, covering the tracks of the love of his life.

It broke his heart when he spotted said love, lying in the snow with...such cold clothes... and this unbelievingly sad look on his beautiful face. He swallowed hard, tearing his cloak down and covering Marth with it, before pulling him into a warm embrace. Ike shut his eyes tightly. He did not want to see this... no...it couldn't be. It was not true. Not true... a lie...

Rocking back and forth, desperately clinging to Marth, Ike caressed his back carefully.

Marth did not make any sound. No cry. No sob.

But Ike felt the wet tears soaking his shirt.

Not knowing what to say, Ike just bent down and tenderly brushed Marth's hair out of his watery eyes. Crystal tears silently rolled down his pale white cheeks. Ike looked at him with sorrow.

Was it really too late? Too late to do anything? Ike didn't think so. He absently retraced the contours of Marth's face with his fingertips. When they reached his chin, Ike stopped. It didn't matter now, did it? He had wasted way too much time not telling Marth about his true feelings. Completely oblivious to the fact that it might have given him warmth and hope all this time, maybe even strength, Ike had just hidden away like the coward he was.

_''You can't hide it forever. Let it out. There is no need to act like you don't care for it is a waste of precious time. It's not a shame to cry. But it is a shame to hide instead of facing reality.''_

Those where exactly the words that he had told Marth, and yet, he had been contradicting himself all the time. Why? Because he was weak. He should have been strong, not for himself, but for Marth. Only for him. He'd do anything for him, but he never did anything. It wasn't enough...

Ike tiredly closed his eyes as the stinging tears fell down onto Marth's face. What was he doing? Useless and weak as he was again, Ike couldn't help him. Opening his eyes, he slowly started to get closer to Marth. There was only a tiny gap between their lips when Ike quietly whispered those three dreadful words, only loud enough to be heard by Marth, because they were only for him, and he would never say them to anyone else.

''I love you.''

With that, he softly brushed his lips against Marths. Ike shivered at the cold feeling of his skin, but he was addicted to the sweet taste. He wanted to hold him, touch him, kiss him, make him feel happy and loved for ever and ever, but he knew that there was no such thing as forever. There was no future for them, and without a future, there was no eternity. Therefore, he would have to make _now_ their eternity. Ike's hands wandered towards Marth's back, holding him tightly. Still touching him with his warm lips, Ike pulled him up from the icy snow. They were kneeling amidst the white, cold mass, desperately clinging to each other.

Marth had felt shocked at first, but now he was starting to feel warm from within. Knowing that faith was all that he had left now, he didn't deny the truth anymore. But that did not mean he would acknowledge defeat. By not denying the truth, he did not mean his disease.

It was his love for Ike, the only person he believed in right now.

Marth kissed him back with all his resurgent passion. So forcefully that he almost tumbled him over. He broke the kiss off in order to look into Ike's eyes.

''Don't... leave... me'', Marth whispered. A gentle smile touched Ike's lips as he remembered that Marth had already requested that before. It had been back then, in the infirmary, when they hadn't even known about the disease.

Ike caressed Marth's face with affection. ''I will never leave you, Marth.'', he reassured him again, and he would do it over and over if he needed to. ''I will always stay with you. Nothing can tear us apart. Not even death.'' He leaned in again to fondly kiss Marth's brow.

The prince smiled. It was so beautiful, this feeling. That there would always be someone there for him. Who would accompany him for the rest of his life. And he didn't care about the quantity of the seconds, minutes, days, maybe weeks he had left, as long as they were spent with the person he loved. His one and only, true love.

Ike slowly looked up. Everything was white. The bright, overcast sky and the snowy field made it look like an otherworldly place. Thick, soft, snowflakes started to glide down from above. Marth reached out, trying to catch them with his shivering hand, but he couldn't really control it.

''Are we... in.. heaven?'', he slowly spoke. Ike shook his head. ''Not yet.'' He stretched out his hand and held Marth's trembling forearm still, so that he could catch the white fluffs. ''But... I won't...get any..happier...than this.'' Claiming that, Marth slowly turned to him again, pressing his lips against Ike's.

Smilingly, Ike closed his eyes. He let the hand he'd been holding Marth's arm with wander towards the prince's palm and intertwined their fingers.

_''I will always listen to you, Marth. No matter how slowly you speak.''_


	21. A last kiss, forever

Marth gladly took the hand Ike offered him, pulling himself up from the icy snow. The time had passed so quickly as the two of them had been holding each other here, but oddly, he didn't feel cold at all right now as they were walking back to the mansion.

To Marth, it also seemed strange how different the snow felt, now that he was strolling through it with Ike. Together, with Ike. Before, it had given him a feeling of loneliness, of pain and loss, while now, it just seemed like the purest, most serene thing in the entire world.

He carefully peeked over to Ike, who was walking next to him, gaze averted with an awkward blush. Marth's eyes fixed his own feet, studying every little detail of his shoes. What were they supposed to do now? What was different? It felt like...nothing had ever changed. Unpleasant questions like these were floating around in the air, but they both did not dare asking them.

Eventually, though, Marth was the one to break this weird silence. ''I- Ike... I...just wanted to ask you! Are we...you know... together, now? A... couple? I... mean...I love y-''

He couldn't voice the rest of his sentence as he unexpectedly slipped, threatening to crash into the snow. Trying to prevent the fall, he grabbed Ike's collar, pulling the surprised man with him, down into the cold. Marth landed softly on Ike's chest, while the other's head hit the ground harshly. Strange - considering that the prince had spent most of the time awkwardly observing his boots... If he paid THAT much attention to his walk, he shouldn't be slipping so easily.

''Ouch...'', Ike mumbled, rubbing the back of his head with cheeks as red as fire. Seriously - how embarrassing.

At first, Marth had planned to stammer an apology, but as he realized Ike's shyness, and how delicate this entire situation actually was, he changed his mind. The shocked look on his face melted into a mischievous smirk.

''Ikey...!'', he sighed serenely, cuddling Ike forcefully. That made him blush even more, and he eyed Marth with brows knitted in confusion. ''I...**key**?'', he stuttered disbelievingly. This really sounded like a cat's name. Or a dog's name, since dogs were known to be very faithful.

''Yes! Now that we're lovers, I want to give you a cute nickname!'', Marth smiled, caressing _Ikey's _cheek with tender affection.

''L- L... Lo..Lovers... I...'', he gasped, nearly fainting from happiness. He was so incredibly lucky... Was this all just a dream? A mirage? It just seemed way too good to be true.

Before he could think or speak any further, he found his lips being covered by Marth's, silencing him with a soft kiss. His mind went completely blank, like an empty, white sheet of paper. The only thing left was this wonderful feeling which needed a thousand, yet no words at all to be described.

''I love you, Ike.''

The melodically spoken words reached Ike's ears like bells ringing somewhere far away, but still, they were _so_ close. Marth embraced his new found love with a long, content sigh. Ike didn't know what to say. It was just so incredibly beautiful. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around Marth, pulling him a little closer. So perfect beyond his dreams. Before he knew it, warm tears of bliss started rolling down his face.

''Ooh... Sssh, Ikey, don't cry...'', the prince whispered, quietly kissing the tears away. Letting out a mixture between a chuckle and a sob, Ike reached up his hand to stroke Marth under the chin, causing him to giggle sweetly.

''We should really get inside'', Ike smiled with tears in his eyes, sitting himself up with Marth still pressed against his chest, ''It's way too cold.''

''You're right. I wouldn't want you to catch a cold, Ikey.'', Marth hummed as they stood up together. ''Me?! A cold? I'm not sensitive.'', Ike contradicted joyfully. The prince on the other hand saw that statement as a challenge, so he secretly formed a snowball behind his back. ''Oh, of course you're not, Ikey, but...''

He smacked the snowball right into Ike's face, laughing merrily at that bewildered expression of his.

''Just you wait, my friend!'', Ike growled with faked anger, the smirk plastered on his lips betraying his play. He bent down to form a snowball as well, but when he looked up again, ready to fire it, Marth was already running away like a spooked horse. ''Run, run, as fast as you can!'', he yelled crazily, ''You'll never get me!''

''MARTH! Marth! WAIT! What if you fall down?!'', Ike screamed worriedly, dropping the snow and quickly following Marth.

''Then I'll laugh!''

''You're insane!''

Marth only cackled like a maniac, increasing his speed even more.

~*~*~

Completely out of breath, but happy as can be, they finally arrived at the window again, quickly climbing inside. Once there, they closed it, giggling serenely.  
''Uh... I'm tired...'', Marth yawned and threw himself onto his bed contently. ''What? You just woke up'', Ike laughed, but then covered him with the thick, white blanket.

''Doesn't matter...'', Marth pouted, but then smiled at Ike again, ruffling his spiky hair and pulling him down to himself. In the very second Ike's lips touched Marth's, the door knob soundlessly turned, and in walked Roy.

It was a long kiss. Excruciatingly long, for Roy.

He didn't know whether they had noticed him or not, but it didn't matter. The roses in his hand fell to the ground, and he wordlessly turned around, banging the door behind himself.

The two lovers winced, automatically turning their gazes towards the door.

When Marth discovered the red flowers lying abandonedly on the floor, he instantly knew what was going on.

''Roy'', he whispered, exchanging flustered glances with Ike, ''I'm sorry, Ike, but I need to talk to him!'' Stating this, he quickly jumped up from the bed, stumbling out of the room.

He saw Roy leaning against the corridor wall, staring into nothingness.

''Well... Now I know how it feels. Thanks.'', Roy uttered sarcastically, breaking the ugly silence between them.

Marth turned away to hide the guilt in his eyes.

''**Look at me!** Am I not even worth seeing your face now anymore!?'', Roy screamed, feeling like a wild animal caught in a destructive trap. ''Look at me **please**. Look at me...'' His voice turned quiet, almost pleading.

Silently, Marth raised his head as he noticed the desperation in his former lover's words. He felt so cruel... so heartless.

''I always knew you'd leave me for him someday. I just couldn't accept it.''

Marth's eyelids started fluttering down to the ground again, but he resisted the urge to avoid Roy's reproachful gaze. He owed him that. No, more than that.

''You're so blind, Marth. Ike does not deserve you. He lied to you, more than I ever did. He deceived you, pretending that he was your friend, but in fact, he always had ulterior motives. He just _wanted_ you. HE was the reason I broke up with you. HE was the reason you left me, right now, and... you lost.''

Marth's expression became distorted with rage. How dare he insult Ike?!

''**LOST?!** It's not some game, Roy! When will you ever understand that we're not your toys?! You're a LIAR. A selfish, pathetic, little liar. Ike never deceived me! He'd never hurt me, YOU did!

And yes, I WAS blind, I was blinded by your lies. I thought you were wonderful. Now I see that you're not.'' He paused to pant for breath.

''If anyone ever lost in your stupid game, it was YOU. You lost yourself. You're hiding behind that pathetic mask of lies, but you know that no one will ever love you. You lie to everyone... but you fail to understand that you're mostly lying to yourself. YOU lost.'' The end. Now the words only needed to sink in.

Roy stared at Marth disbelievingly. No way. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. It was...pure ignorance. What did that naive prince even know about him?! Nothing. Indeed, he was blind. So blinded by his new found 'love'. Brainwashed.

''I'm only human. I admit I made mistakes. I was jealous, but... no one can blame me for being jealous of HIM. I saw the way you looked at him. The shimmer in your eyes when you talked to him. And when you said his name, I could hear it. I knew that you loved him.''

''Like I said, selfish.'', Marth interrupted without any emotion.

''Not anymore. I love you.''

''It's too late.''

''I love you.'', Roy repeated weakly, taking a small step towards the one he cared about the most, ''I love you with all my heart, ever since I made that horrible mistake. If I could only turn back the time...''

''You can't.''

Heavy silence.

''...I never did anything like this to you'', Roy whispered, suddenly looking incredibly pale and mature for his age, ''You never had to see me in the arms of another. You were always the only one for me.''

Marth snorted snidely. ''How moving! But, let me tell you a secret...'', he spoke, turning down the volume of his snarky voice, just to make him listen.

''...I don't care.''

Looking at the sadistic grin on the face of his love, Roy's previously disgusted expression turned into a soft smile. ''You really became an awesome liar.''

''Keep dreaming.'' Marth turned around and started walking away to leave him with that. It's only fair, right? There was nothing to feel guilty about. They were even now. Roy had left him, and he would have seriously needed him back then. Now he was in love with someone else, and he'd leave him, too. Deal.

''I didn't know it was vengeance you were after.''

Marth stopped as he heard this sentence, so quietly spoken he would have almost missed it.

''I thought you forgave me. Now I see that you never did. Oh, and now that Ike confessed to you, too, oh yes, that was the perfect opportunity to get back at me. But, maybe that just came along with the fact that you fell in love with him. You think it's fine to leave me, after what I did to you. Sorry to burst your bubble, but... it's not that simple.'', Roy bitterly analyzed the situation, fixing Marth's back without even blinking once until he finally decided to turn around and face him again.

Too smart. Roy was just too smart, it should be illegal to be so cunning. He was right... it really wasn't that simple... What was he doing? How could he be so... cruel? How could he have said such terrible things to... Roy? The one he had once loved...

''I'm sorry'', Marth murmured with disbelief, hesitantly approaching him. Roy wordlessly took a step back with every inch that Marth came closer. It really didn't bother him to show weakness anymore. Seriously, it was better to seem weak than being so close to the one he could not have.

''...You should be.'', Roy said firmly, before his expression turned warm and pleading. ''Just like me. I'm so terribly sorry, Marth.'' All that he could do right now was hoping, praying that Marth would forgive him, for that was the only thing he needed right now. Mercy.

''No, don't be sorry... Please...'', the prince spoke, slowly shaking his head.

''I wish you'd never have fallen in love with me! I wish you would have loved Ike from the beginning!'', Roy spoke quietly, now seeing the truth so clearly, ''I was just a mistake, an accident. I should have never happened... I should have never existed... I'm so cruel, so horrible! You never deserved someone like me. You deserve all the love of the world, and I, I deserve...torture, pain, death-''

''SHUT UP'', Marth screamed, pressing his hands against his ears, refusing to listen to any of this.

''Shut up... please...'', he sank to the ground, leaning himself against the cold wall. ''No one deserves death. No one except for me. I deserve everything that happened to me. It's me who's cruel and heartless. Luckily I'll die soon...'' Burying his head in his hands, he sobbed desperately.

Roy stared at Marth with shock. He felt his heart break, and the pain was worse than anything he'd ever experienced. ''No... NO!'' He rushed over to Marth, grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him up again, pressing him against the wall. ''No, don't speak!''

''I want to die...let me die, please...'', Marth cried loudly, grasping the arms that supported him with trembling hands, ''How long... how long will I have to suffer...please...''

''Don't speak... I beg you, don't speak...'', Roy whimpered, but no words could stop the other from uttering his death wishes.

''Marth, I don't care if you love Ike. That will never change my feelings for you. I love you'', he whispered quietly, sealing Marth's lips with a bittersweet kiss. That was all it took to make him stop talking.

''You changed me. You turned me into a better person. Thank you'', Roy smiled, trying hard to hold back the tears. He had to be strong now, for Marth.

''I wish you two all the luck of the world. I want you to be happy, Marth, more than anything. I love you so much...'' Roy gently pulled him into a warm embrace as he saw Marth's legs give in.

''I wish I could give you my health, but I can't'', he sobbed, shakily kissing Marth's forehead. ''I wish I could transfer you my life, but that's not possible'', he gasped for air as he realized how useless he actually was. ''And I wish I could at least make you happy, but I'm not Ike''

There was nothing he could do, nothing. He was of absolutely no use for Marth. All he ever did was making him feel bad, and that wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all.

''I hope that you can forgive me, someday. I hope that you'll have mercy with a lost soul. Even if I don't deserve it'' The oxygen almost didn't make its way into his lungs anymore now. It was so hard to breathe... There were so many things he still had to tell Marth, but he had almost no strength left.

''...I love you, Marth. I will always love you, don't you ever forget that.'' Roy's features turned mild and loving as he looked into Marth's eyes.

''Roy...'', he breathed, now going completely limp in Roy's arms. It seemed so unreal. Was that really Roy? He didn't know this person. So kind and tender...so wonderful...

Still, he knew that Roy could also be fierce and full of passion. That was what fascinated him so much about Roy. To him, he was just perfect. And their love, it was perfect, too.

Fire and ice, day and night, they completed each other. What they had was irreplaceable, and it would be beyond stupid to throw it all away right now. Ike would understand. He'd always be there for him as a friend, and he'd be happy for him.

''Kiss...me...'', Marth demanded, closing his tired eyes. He felt so weak... so exhausted. It'd be truly beautiful to fall asleep in Roy's arms, to feel his warmth, the protection and love he gave him. But what would be even more beautiful, it'd be telling Roy about his true feelings for him once he woke up again. There was so much to say, but right now, he was way too tired to speak.

Roy hesitated. It seemed like Marth had understood what he'd been trying to say. Still, was it alright to kiss him, even if he belonged to Ike? They'd both feel guilty towards Ike, but... a last kiss... It was so tempting.

Shutting his eyes tightly, he gave Marth a kiss full of love and passion. One last time, he'd show him how much he loved him. Why couldn't he keep on kissing him forever? Wasn't it possible to freeze this moment, and just keep it that way?

As he noticed Marth gasp for air, he knew that it was impossible. He slowly broke the kiss. ''Roy, you're...an angel'', Marth whispered silently, apparently already in the realm of dreams, ''_My..._angel.''

Then, his eyes stopped their frantic movements, their futile attempts to resist the fatigue, and his breathing became slow and steady. He had blacked out from the emotional stress.

A sad smile made its way upon Roy's lips as the teardrops started raining down on the innocent, sleeping face of his love. His heart's desire was to keep holding him like this forever, but he knew that it would not work. Marth loved Ike. There was no room for him. He'd have to disappear to make Marth happy. Like this, he'd be nothing but a memory. Sooner or later, Marth would forget about him, and then there would be only Ike.

Roy sobbed as he held him close for the last time. Nevertheless, he had to let him go now. Cautiously, he sat him against the wall and stood up again.

''Sleep well, my little Marthy.''

With that, he left for an unknown place.


	22. The torment

He didn't know for how long he had sat there in the hospital room, and he didn't know just _when_ he had gotten that bad feeling either. Still, at some point of the annoying waiting, Ike simply couldn't take it anymore. He _had_ to know what Roy and Marth were talking about.

In a sudden rush, he ran out of the room, scanning the hallway for Marth. Only when he looked closer, Ike discovered a slumped figure propped against the wall.

Nervously, he hurried over to Marth, hearing his own blood rustle loudly in his ears_._''What did he do to you...'', Ike mumbled, embracing him worriedly.

''Roy...'', he heard Marth say quietly, ''Where...is Roy...''

''Don't worry, Marth, he's not here-''

''No! You don't understand... I need to see him!'', Marth interrupted impatiently, pushing Ike away while trying to get up clumsily. ''I'm going to look for him in... his room'', he decided, and went off.

''What? You're not going anywhere'', Ike determined with bewilderment, following his boyfriend as he staggered away. ''Why would you even want to? I mean, that asshole left you lying here all alone!''

''Don't'', Marth turned around to face him with a cold glare, ''talk about Roy that way.''

Ike pulled a sulky face, but decided not to comment on that. It'd be better, anyway. Roy had always been a touchy topic, and probably it was for the best if he let Marth do... whatever he thought was right. Biting his lip in order to prevent himself from saying anything wrong, Ike walked behind him with a frown.

~*~*~

The knock on his door was emphatic, demanding, and anything but quiet. It was rather a noisy banging against the dark wood than a mere knock. Still, Roy refused to hear it as he stood by his window, staring absently into the white snow, its brightness almost blinding his widely opened eyes.

He didn't care. In the place he was heading for, a good eyesight would be unnecessary anyway.

The loud assault on his door should have surprised him, it should have bothered him, but he wasn't even curious who could be breaking his peace.

The empty expression on his blank face didn't change as he continued to sharpen his sword with an agonizing slowness. _Selfish... liar... pathetic... too late to love him..._

All the the things Marth had said to him wouldn't stop repeating themselves in Roy's head. His mind was taunting him, and he knew that everything the prince had told him was correct. He had been telling the truth, even if he had tried to deny it. And yet, pretty soon, he would once again prove it correct. That he was pathetic, a liar, but most of all _selfish_.

Because what he was about to do was completely immoral, stupid, and egoistic. He didn't want to suffer anymore, but ending his life would hurt Marth as well. Of course, he might not love him the way Roy wanted him to, but he still needed him as a friend. Getting totally lost in his own pondering, the forceful hits against his door turned into a quiet whirring in his ears. Honestly, he didn't think he was even worth being Marth's friend. He was a terrible person and should be tormented for all that he had done.

Without a second thought, he let his palm glide across the icy, merciless blade, drawing wine red blood. The stinging pain that followed was intoxicating, almost addictive. He sighed, feeling the warm liquid run down his arm as he tightened his grip around the hard steel. It was truly satisfying, and he wanted more of this pain, so that he would have a reason to end his suffering.

Suddenly, a silver voice that Roy knew all too well managed to make its way into his ears, waking him from his dangerous daydreams.

''Roy, ROY! Open the door, please!'', Marth cried as loud as he could, but neither his desperate screams nor the violent jarring at the locked doorknob would help to make Roy listen.

Inside the room, Roy's eyes abruptly lit up with innocent anticipation and he lowered his sword, turning around immediately. It was _Marth_! Maybe he was here to help him... His head was spinning, everything was so confusing. He wanted to die, but still, he hoped that someone would try to stop him, or even save him from this pain. And he didn't want just _someone_ to do it. It had to be Marth, no one else. Breathing quickly, he walked towards the door, blood staining the wooden floor an aggressive red.

He reached out with his bloody hand, trembling fingertips grazing the knob of the door which seemed like a barrier between life and death.

''Forget it, he's not opening it.''

Roy stood still with a startled gasp. Ike was there, too...

''Come on, Marth, let's go. He's not worth our time'', Ike said coldly, ''If you really meant a lot to him, he wouldn't be leaving you outside his room like a lost puppy. He's a selfish jerk, I hope he'll never come out of there.''

Roy could only imagine what was happening on the other side as the tears rolled down his face. The rustling noise of fabric, the painful sound of Marth's sobs being suffocated by Ike's chest he was probably burying his face in. He pulled back his hand, awkwardly taking a step back as if they were hugging right in front of his eyes.

Still, the romance outside his room was anything but perfect, even if he liked pretending that it was.

''Why do you hate him so much...'', Marth whimpered, struggling to free himself from Ike's way too forceful embrace.

''Because he's a liar and only thinks about himself'', Ike answered this seemingly simple question without hesitating, pulling Marth even closer. ''_I'm_ the only one who truly loves you. I want to make you happy!'' Marth tried to push the other man away, suddenly scared and confused by Ike's behavior. What had gotten into him?! Why was he being so... rough?

''Ike, let me go'', he demanded as his heartbeat accelerated out of fear, ''You're hurting me!''

Ike shook his head. ''No... I won't let you go.'' Instead, he leaned down to kiss Marth, but the prince squirmed and writhed beneath him, turning his head away.

''Ike, NO!'', Marth yelled, desperately looking at the door, praying that it would open. ''Can't you see it, can't you see what you've become?!'', he questioned, eventually pushing him away. ''You're selfish.''

After a few awkward moments of Ike shifting his weight from one leg to the other shamefacedly, Marth added what he had first planned to be left unspoken.

''But I love you.''

On the other side of the door, Roy was smiling and crying at the same time. He felt so happy for Marth, that he had found someone he really loved, but so incredibly sad that it wasn't him who should receive this love. He would give anything to be Ike right now, only for a minute. In his heart though, he knew that if he opened that door, the whole misery would go on like before. Marth would be torn between him and Ike again, and that would torture him more than anything. He didn't want to see Marth suffer. All he wanted was to be free at last.

His entire life was a curse, and it needed to stop. Slowly and quietly, as if he were afraid that they would notice he was there, he turned around again, going back to his window.

''What a nice day...'', Roy whispered, admiring the beauty of nature for probably the first time ever. He saw the sun coming out from behind the clouds, making the snow glitter like billions of little stars.

Then, he opened the window carefully, shivering at the coldness with distaste. Snow might be beautiful to look at, but it was still so cold and distant that it hurt.

_''Just like my prince...''_, Roy thought. Even if Marth hadn't really meant to say these things back then, he simply couldn't forget a single word he had told him. He had called him a selfish, pathetic, little liar, and that would always be imprinted in his mind. Roy would never forget that, it would haunt him forever.

''I am a liar...'', he whispered, raising his sword to his throat. The blade was trembling.

''I will never tell a lie again...''

Roy hissed in pain as he pressed the hard steel against his neck. He felt the warm blood starting to run down his chest. It hurt much more than he had imagined, but he tried to restrain his screams. Marth just _couldn't_ see him like this.

Shaking with anxiety, he tightened the grip around his sword, slitting his throat in one swift motion. The agony was beyond unbearable, he tried to cry, but he would only emit a strangled sound, choking on his own blood as he dropped his weapon. It fell to the ground with a loud clank while Roy leaned himself against the windowsill, seeking the support with desperation.

~*~*~

Marth's eyes shot open as he suddenly heard a noise coming from Roy's room. Without thinking, he tried in vain to enter it once again, rattling at the door violently. His breath was uncontrollable, all he knew was that something wasn't alright.

''Marth? What is it?!'', Ike asked worriedly.

''Roy'', he breathed, ''He's hurt...''

Ike frowned confusedly. ''What the hell are you talking about?'' Marth didn't bother answering, he just gave the door one last, frustrated hit before he ran down the stairs at the end of the hallway. He had no idea what was happening, but there was this weird feeling inside of him that told him Roy was in danger. And he would not ignore this. Without thinking, Ike quickly followed the prince as he rushed off.

~*~*~

It didn't even take two minutes until they were at the exterior of the building. Marth stumbled through the snow as he headed for that place under Roy's window. It was hard, he could barely walk since his vision was blurry and the whole world appeared to be spinning like a carousel. His heart missed a beat, though, when he saw a hint of Roy's purple cloak dangle out of the window like some tissue that's been carelessly stuffed into a trouser pocket. The next part seemed to be happening in slow motion.

Roy fell, and fell, and fell the about ten metres from his window towards the ground, down the mansion.

He didn't scream, but Marth did, as loud as he possibly could. Everything bad that had happened before, it seemed to be washed away by the sight of Roy in the air. Bits and pieces of the memory of Roy returned to Marth's mind.

He remembered how cute Roy looked when he smiled, and gathered all of his strength, running towards him.

He remembered his calm, yet seductive voice, and suddenly, the falling figure wasn't so far away anymore.

He remembered how nice it was that Roy smelled of roses, and he was already so close now.

He remembered all the hugs and kisses they had shared, and spread his arms wide open.

Roy smashed into him violently, causing Marth to collapse because of the impact. As he heard Roy's rapid breaths though, he sighed with incredible relief. He was alive! Smiling happily, Marth detached himself from him, casting a glance over the redhead.

What he had to face made his smile fade away and his heart cringe. It was an awful sight. Roy was completely soaked in blood. There was so much of the red liquid that it was hard to tell where it actually originated. But when he noticed the big wound parting Roy's neck, Marth emitted a loud cry of horror.

_I apologize that this chapter took an entire MONTH, I am so sorry!!  
_

_But I think I can't write anymore. Honestly, it SUCKS. Let's face it, it's true. It's just gory and disgusting and I don't even know if it can be rated T anymore. Help please? =0_


	23. Ocean of tears

The snow that had once looked so pure and pearly-white was now being tainted with blood, more and more with every second. Roy's breath was very thin, it seemed like he was barely alive. In his mind, there were bright voices calling and singing to him, or just talking. He saw blurred, random images of things he had either experienced or dreamed up sometime. There was one picture, though, that kept on returning to him, over and over again. It was Marth, he knew it was him, even if he couldn't see his face clearly. His laughter was ringing through Roy's head as he continued his game of hide and seek. The second the vision started to look somewhat real, Marth was already gone again, the echo of his constant giggling never completely fading.

~*~*~

''Roy...no... open your eyes! We'll go to the infirmary... and then, everything will be fine again... trust me'', Marth whispered, rather trying to reassure himself than Roy. Carefully, he took him in his arms and attempted to lift him up – without success. He was so weak, it took him all of his willpower to even stay conscious.

He looked around, growing scared by the fact that Roy was losing more and more blood with every passing second. With a trembling hand, Marth pushed the red strands of hair out of Roy's pale face. Why was he so pale? He was almost as pale as the white snow. Marth just couldn't bring himself to believe that he'd been playing so carelessly with Ike in this snow not so long ago. Tears started racing down his cheeks as feelings of guilt were nibbling at his heart. He had practically _cheated_ on Roy. And if he died now, it would be all his fault. He'd never forgive himself, he would never be happy again.

''Hold on... Roy, please... I need you..''

''It's too late, Marth.'', Ike suddenly interfered, looking down to Roy without any emotion. Well, if he felt anything, it was indifference. It really wouldn't bother him if that filthy liar died, to be honest, it'd be better for him and Marth. Then, they'd finally be alone, just the two of them.

''He's still breathing!'', Marth cried with despair, ''Please...take him to the infirmary, or he'll die... **Ike**!''

''Obviously he wanted to die, and I'm the last person on this planet who'll try to stop him, you can count on that'', Ike spat out bitterly.

''Do it for me, then... I **beg** you!'', Marth pleaded, attempting to convince him by staring into his eyes soulfully. That only resulted in Ike giving a long, annoyed sigh. ''Look at him, Marth. It's too late. We can't help him.''

A silence that nearly dripped with venom followed that statement, until Marth finally raised his voice.

''Give me your sword, then.'', he spoke quietly.

''What..?''

''I'm going with Roy.''

''Are you insane!?''

**''NO, that should be MY line!!''**, Marth yelled, clinging to Roy protectively, ''Now you're showing your true face. I don't even know you anymore! You're a stranger to me. I'm in love with a stranger...'' He sobbed, it was just so hard to accept the truth. That despite Ike's terribly cruel behavior, he still loved him after all. And his feelings for Roy, he had no idea what they were. It was simply impossible to be close to Ike _and_ Roy at the same time. When he was alone with Ike, Roy didn't exist in his heart. But when he was alone with Roy, it seemed like that thing between Ike and him had never happened. Marth knew that this way of thinking was totally childish and narrow. Nevertheless, he couldn't choose between the two of them. He _couldn't_! Who was he to decide about both of their fates?!

Sometimes he wondered if there was a little man inside of his brain, turning a switch that controlled his emotions on and off randomly.

All of a sudden, Ike bent down and picked Roy up with a scowl. ''I'm only doing this for you.'', he grumbled, giving Marth a serious look before walking away with Roy in his arms. The prince quickly followed him, having a hard time keeping up with his quick pace.

Ike didn't feel sorry for Roy. Not a bit. The man he was carrying into the mansion, saving from death, that was the man who had broken Marth's heart. Who had lied to him, played with him as if he were some toy that was only created for his own, personal amusement. No matter what he did, even if he died for Marth, Ike would never trust Roy. He'd never believe that his intentions were pure. That man had made Marth cry, despair, and give up entirely on life. And that was something he could never forget, far less forgive.

He cast a glance at the figure in his arms. It was hard to believe that _this_ was supposed to be the one who hurt Marth so terribly. Roy looked fragile, almost tired with his eyes closed peacefully. Was he tired of sinning? Or did this whole drama revolving around Marth exhaust him so much that he just wanted to go to sleep forever? If that was really true, he could understand Roy. He could almost relate to him, for he had felt like dying before, as well. He had reached a point in his life where it seemed as if he had no tears left to cry. It was truly pointless, he had tried to save Marth from his sorrow with his love, but all he had achieved was Marth being even sadder than before. And sometimes he wished that this could all be over, too.

''Ike... Thank you''

Still, every time he heard the prince's beautiful voice, he simply _couldn't_ give it all up. He turned around, and as he looked at his love, his emotionless eyes turned warm again. If anything could ever touch his heart like this, it was Marth. The rest didn't matter to him anymore.

~*~*~

''Marth, MARTH!'', an absolutely flustered Peach came running towards Marth as soon as she saw the runaway enter the infirmary, Dr. Mario right behind her.

''Honey, where have you been? We were looking for you _everywhere_'' She firmly grasped his shoulders with her small, shaking hands as if she wanted to make sure that this was indeed Marth, not a hallucination caused by her worried mind.

''P- Peach, it's Roy... he- help h..him'', Marth stuttered, trembling as he noticed his friend's blood dripping from his shirt and hands.

In that moment, the nurse let out a shrill scream, terrified by the sight of Ike walking in with Roy, bathed in blood. Marth turned around, sobbing loudly as he had again to face what made his heart tear apart. Roy truly looked more dead than alive. He had the appearance of a broken doll with is throat slit and his arm angled unnaturally.

Mario gasped with shock, but he tried to remain as calm as possible. Still, Roy was losing so much blood, even he as a doctor found it hard not to get sick by seeing this. It was awful.

''D- Doc..tor...'', Marth stammered since Mario made no move to do anything, ''Pl.. please!''

Then he took the doctor's arm and shook it urgently, trying to make him active somehow. It seemed to work quickly, since Mario went over to Roy, helping Ike with placing him on one of the beds. After completing that task, Doctor Mario caressed Roy's forehead pitifully. Only one look was enough to tell him what had happened. It was a suicide attempt, and to him, it was a miracle that Roy was even still alive after this major blood loss. He cleared his throat, unsure about the physical _and_ mental wounds ever getting healed.

''He... lost so much blood'', the doctor stated drily, working on Roy's hand with strange instruments that neither Marth nor Ike understood, ''He needs a transfusion.''

''I am willing to do it!'', Marth agreed without hesitation, but Mario shook his head before the prince had even finished his sentence.

''Marth, that's impossible. You are barely strong enough to survive with your disease.''

The words hit him hard. Was he really _that_ useless? Was it true that he had lost everything? He was no longer a fighter. His own personality seemed to have changed so much that he didn't even recognize himself anymore when he looked at his reflection in the mirror. The two people who mattered the most to him have become arch enemies.

And now when Roy, the irreplaceable Roy, needed his help, he couldn't do anything. Because of that stupid, goddamned disease. That disgusting curse which had taken away everything from him. The dark shadow that had turned his life into an unbearable ache.

Roy would die. He would croak miserably, just because he had been such a fool. Because he had fallen asleep after their fight, because he had cheated on him with Ike, because he was weak, because he was _useless_.

Marth didn't care if he died because of the transfusion!

It would be only fair. If he hadn't been such an idiot who let his emotions get the best of him, they all wouldn't be in this predicament. Since it was _his_ fault that Roy had even done something like this, it should be natural to die in order to save his life. Marth opened his mouth to say what he had to say, but he was interrupted by a deep, hoarse voice.

''I'll do it.''

Ike turned to face Marth, who just stared at him with eyes as wide as plates.

''Good. Peach, hurry!'', Mario yelled, and then they started preparing the hospital bed in order to roll it into the depth of a mysterious room that Marth had never entered before. 'Surgery' was painted on the doors with bold, black, intimidating letters. He swallowed. Did he really want Roy to go in there?

What if he never came back again? What if he would never see him again? The first tear crept down his face.

What if only Roy returned, and Ike was dead because of the transfusion? Then the last conversation they had would be an argument. The second tear ran along his cheek.

But the worst thing that could possibly happen...

...What if they both died? What would he do? He couldn't bear losing either of them, but both? What if that happened? The third tear turned into an entire ocean.

Ike smiled at him. His wonderful, honest dolphin smile. Marth knew exactly what he was trying to say with this smile. It were so many things, but only this smile could express them.

_Don't worry._

_He'll be fine._

_I'll be fine._

_We'll find a solution._

_I am with you._

_There is hope._

_There is light._

_You won't lose._

_I love you._

Even though Marth found it hard to do so, he carefully returned the smile. Then, he covered Roy's hand with his own, walking beside the bed as it was rolled towards the door of the foreign room. They reached it way too soon. Peach told him to stay outside, lay down and rest. He stopped, looking at Roy and Ike for one last time. His hand still lingered on Roy's, until he eventually had to let go of him.

They didn't know yet that the moment their fingers parted, everything was about to change. Everything that had been, and all that would be - nothing would ever be the same again. The moment their physical contact was broken, they didn't know that it would be a departure forever. Because all the things that they had believed in, all that they had lived for, would be washed away by the merciless tide called fate.

Was it good?

Or bad?  
Only the time could ever tell them.

But one thing was for sure...

...Everything would change.

_OMG, thank you SO much for all your wonderful reviews, you don't even know how much every single one of you guys means to me! 3_

_Ok, your reviews make me so happy, I don't want this to end anymore. I'm going to finish this and then write a sequel._

_Keep reviewing! You're the best!_


	24. Speechless

Silence.

Stinging, unbearable silence.

Marth's quiet sobbing into the sheets of the hospital bed had ceased a long time ago. Not even the wind was howling against the window anymore. The rain had stopped falling down, and the only thing that could be heard was this frustrating silence.

Marth didn't move. Since he had collapsed at the edge of the bed four hours ago, his face had remained buried in his arms, and he was still kneeling on the cold floor, immobile.

Inside of him, it was quiet, as well. But within those last few hours, he had learned that _'quiet'_ did not equal _'peaceful'_.

The quietness he was experiencing had nothing to do with peace. It hurt him, it cut him like a blade, it was killing him. Every second that passed seemed like an hour, and every minute seemed like a day. Marth didn't understand what he was waiting for, he had no idea what was going on behind those doors he could not enter. What were they doing with Roy? Was he even still alive? And what about Ike? Was a blood transfusion dangerous?

So many questions, but not a single answer.

The moments passed slowly, and all that Marth could do was wondering when he would finally be told what was happening. Whether it be good or bad news, he just _had_ to know them.

Marth felt horrible, not only because of the emotional hell he was going through. He hadn't taken his medicine today, and now he kept on seeing strange shapes and colors, even though his eyes were closed. He was dizzy, sick, and constantly felt as if the ground he was sitting on was being pulled away from him, leaving him in midair. He wanted to vomit, but he couldn't. He was angry at Dr. Mario, at Sister Peach, at Master Hand, at everyone. All they were doing was camouflaging his disease, and he was convinced that they were just a bunch of hypocrites. The medication was doing nothing but suppressing the symptoms, that's what he had found out. They didn't stop the tumor from growing, all they did was smothering the fact that there was no cure.

Doctors were completely powerless. They always pretended that they knew how everything worked, how it could be cured, but in fact, they couldn't do anything. Marth despised the objectiveness of Dr. Mario from the bottom of his heart, he loathed how he was always acting like his patients were just things that had to be fixed, not living persons.

Nevertheless, Marth knew it was wrong to scapegoat him, it wasn't like it was Mario's fault. Still, right now he was so desperate, he just had to blame everything on somebody. Roy's life was depending on the doctor's work, and he felt so hopeless as he sat there, doing nothing but worry and despair. To him, Roy was already gone. Marth had silently accepted the fact, but he just couldn't bring himself to believe it. A part of him seemed to keep on denying everything that had happened so far. Mentally and physically...he was in a pain that he had never experienced before, and it felt truly wonderful when he finally drifted into a deep sleep.

~*~*~

_We're lying on a green meadow, surrounded by flowers in every color one could possibly think of. The blue sky is full of fluffy, white clouds, and Roy turns around to put his warm hand on my cheek. _

_''My pretty little angel...'', Roy suddenly whispers with his low, soothing voice,''You're beautiful. I love you.''_

_I frown and look him in the eyes._

_''Do you only love me because I'm beautiful?'', I ask doubtfully, trying to find the truth in his mysterious, blue irises._

_Then, he suddenly smiles, as if he were amused by my scepsis._

_''Maybe.''_

_''Roy!''_

_I feel my cheeks turning red, and look away, feeling stupid for questioning his love for me. Because I know that he loves me. Always._

_''Of course I only love you because you're beautiful.'' He smirks, and he looks so adorable when he tells his dumb lies._

_''Liar.''_

_''...You caught me.'' Then he chuckles and plucks a random flower from the meadow without even looking at what he is doing. His eyes are glued to mine._

_''Here'', he says, and holds the little, blue flower in front of my face, ''I chose that one just for you.''_

_I try not to laugh at the cute, innocent face that he pulls, instead I join your little game._

_''Oh, thank you so much!'' I exaggerate, and take the flower in both of my hands with acted caution. I hold it to my heart and let my other hand wander across the soft, moist meadow. With a smirk, I grasp a handful of grass, and pull it out, just to throw it into his face._

_''And I chose **that **__just for you!'' I giggle happily._

_We both start laughing so much that it's hard to breathe. I can't even see his face anymore, it's covered by the green stalks. It looks idiotic, it makes me laugh so much._

_Then, we finally calm down a little, and I reach out in order to clean him up. Slowly, I remove all the grass, still smiling to myself._

_But when the green is finally gone, I startle as I don't look into Roy's face anymore, but Ike's. He smiles at me, and pushes me on my back, lying on top of me._

_''No'', I mumble, but I can't push him away, he pins my hands to the ground. Do I even want him to stop? It feels good. I think I want Ike to go on, it makes me happy. I also think it makes Roy sad. But...he's not here... not now..._

_I shudder as Ike's lips come closer to mine. I close my eyes..._

_~*~*~ _

Footsteps.

At first they were scarcely audible, but eventually got louder and louder. Marth was wide awake again within seconds, forgetting the strange dream he just had immediately. His head quickly turned to the doors, and he gasped as they were opened. As fast as he could, he stood up falteringly, his heart pounding painfully in his chest because of the tension.

It was Dr. Mario who came into the room. His gloved hands were hidden in the pockets of his white coat, and his expression was impossible to interpret. Marth furrowed his brow as he watched the doctor approach him.

''W- What... How... how is he?'', he rasped. His voice was bone dry because he feared the answer more than anything.

Mario sighed and sat down on the bed, looking really exhausted. Marth followed suit, quickly sitting down next to him.

''He's...''

Mario paused to dart a glance at the prince, and noticed how tense, worried, but on top of it all _sick_ he looked. It was truly pitiful, he had never seen someone so pale and fragile, so desperate. What should he tell him? The truth? Marth was a very sick boy, and Dr. Mario just couldn't hurt him even more by telling him everything. He decided to only tell him fragments of the truth first.

''...He's alive.'' That wasn't a lie. Still, the doctor already felt bad for not being entirely honest about the condition Roy was in.

''Oh... Oh! Thank you, doctor... thank you so much! How can I ever thank you?!'' Marth sobbed, and threw his arms around Mario who didn't even react to that as he was still lost in thoughts.

''Can... can I see him!?'', the prince asked with a pounding heart. His eyes sparkled with tears of happiness, and anyone could have noticed how healthy he was looking compared to before he had learned that Roy wasn't dead.

Dr. Mario swallowed hard. ''Sure. But first, Marth...'', he fumbled the sheets of the bed awkwardly, ''Can you promise me something?''

He wasn't sure what this was all about, but Marth nodded quickly. Anything, really...

Anything for the man who had saved Roy's life.

''Master Hand doesn't want to wait any longer. He gave me two more days, and if you aren't getting better by then, he'll...''

''...send me home.'', Marth finished, and shifted uncomfortably on the bed, before starting to smile. ''I don't care about that, as long as Roy and Ike are fine, it doesn't matter if I die.''

''Maybe you don't have to die, Marth.''

''Excuse me?''

''I found a cure.'', Mario forced himself to keep up the eye contact, ''It is an extremely risky operation, but I need you to agree on trying it, otherwise you will certainly...perish... very soon.''

Marth's heart skipped a beat when he heard that, but he soon decided that his worries were unnecessary.

''You... healed Roy. I entrust you with my life.'', Marth put his right hand on his heart, ''I solemnly swear, I will do anything you want.'' He said that, and he meant it. Thinking back, he couldn't remember to have broken a single promise that he had made. He already felt bad for thinking such mean, ignorant things about Dr. Mario earlier.

''Thank you, Marth.'', he smiled, and stood up from the bed after patting Marth's shoulder fatherly. It was strange how the prince had managed to capture him. Really, he wasn't just a patient to him anymore. To him, curing Marth had become more of a goal rather than a medical obligation. Mario wanted him to be healthy again. He wanted to give him back the life that had been destroyed by the tumor. The life in which he could walk without falling down, in which he could jump around, dance and fight. He dreamed of Marth being the innocent, carefree boy that he used to be. Who was nice and reserved to everybody without even expecting anything in return.

But deep down, he knew that the Marth of his memory and the Marth he was looking at weren't the same. As much as he tried to repair everything, he hit the brick wall ever so often. Doctors could not change fate. Knowing that just _hurt_.

If Marth had known what risks were coming with the surgery, Mario was sure that he wouldn't have agreed to do it. But he had no chance. He simply couldn't let Marth die, no matter what. Once again, he felt like lying to him, but the doctor was hogtied.

''Can I... see Roy now?'', Marth cautiously asked, getting up as well.

''Marth'', Mario started after a long sigh, ''Maybe you shouldn't see him yet. Roy... no longer is the same he was before...''

''I want to see him.'', Marth insisted sharply as he began growing somewhat impatient.

For several, tense seconds with the doctor looking deeply into his eyes, Marth wondered what could be so bad that he should better not go to Roy. He started biting his lower lip nervously. If it was possible, he wanted to see him even more than ever right now. After that brief moment of hesitation, Dr. Mario finally nodded, indicating to follow him.

They were walking to another door, small and hidden, next to the one with _'Surgery'_ on it. Soundlessly, Mario turned the knob, and slowly went in. Before entering as well, Marth read a little sign on the room that said _'Recovery Room'_. He didn't remember this; as far as he knew, he had never been in there before.

Curiously, he stepped inside and looked around a little. It was kind of surprising to him that the tiny room was completely empty, except for a white bed and a few futuristic machines that he did not understand. Besides another door which obviously connected the two adjacent rooms, there wasn't anything in the walls either, not even a window. And Roy was supposed to be in this prison?! Marth's heartbeat accelerated with every step he took towards the bed. When he had eventually reached it, he carefully pushed away the heavy, white blanket, smiling to himself as he saw a bit of Roy's flaming, red hair.

''Roy?'', Marth whispered quietly while caressing that hair with affection.

Roy started turning around slowly. It seemed like an eternity to Marth until he could finally see his face. He was crying. The tears rained down like a waterfall, no end in sight. His expression was twisted with pain.

''W- What is it..?'', Marth mumbled breathlessly, totally shocked by the anguish Roy was in.

Silence.

Roy was moving his lips, but there was no sound coming out. He wanted to answer Marth, he wanted to tell him how badly it hurt, wanted to apologize for everything. He strained himself, he tried to talk as hard as he could. He tried to scream, but he couldn't even emit a whimper. It hurt like a knife cutting his throat every time he attempted to say something, in a pain that was far past unbearable. But he didn't give up, he needed to talk to Marth.

To explain, to excuse, to confess.

To tell him that he loved him.

Marth's hands started trembling, he was afraid of touching someone who looked so vulnerable.

''Roy... what's wrong... say it...''

''He's mute. He can't talk.'', Dr. Mario spoke quietly, as if he were ashamed of what he had done. Sure, he had saved his life, but the price for that was high.

''B- but it will...come back, right!?'', Marth stuttered disbelievingly, ''His voice, it w- will come back!''

''No. He'll never talk again.''

...

_Once again, my warmest greetings to everyone. I'd like to thank everyone personally - sadly I can't do that with anonymous reviewers, but please know that you are just as appreciated! Thank you so much._


	25. It's momentum

Marth's heart was broken.

Without another word, he turned around and went back to his white, little room; the one he had spent so many lonely hours in, grieving and thinking. He slammed the door behind him, it was impossible to look at Roy for him. He went back to the bed he had spent so many nights awake in, pondering about life. It almost felt like leaving that place, that bed, had been a mistake. Sure, he had been miserable before, but escaping through the window, it was probably the biggest mistake he had ever made. Trying to run away, to flee to an artificial world... now, it seemed pathetic to him.

And he had begged at least a billion times that the time could be turned back for him.

But today, he honestly pleaded that what happened with Roy was just a test run. He prayed that God, or destiny, or whatever was responsible for that, simply decided that doing that to Roy and him wasn't a good idea. That they would start over, that Marth would wake up that one snowy morning again, and that he would do _nothing_. And probably die, it didn't matter to him, all he wanted was that the people he loved were safe.

Marth sat down on the bed, staring out of the window quietly. To his own surprise, his hands were alarmingly calm when he pulled his secret diary out of the pillow. They weren't even trembling when he began writing into the small book. It had been weeks since he had last written something down , but the words flew into the book right out of his broken heart.

_My heart..._

_It had to endure a lot, but I think that this time, it can't be mended again._

_It can't, and I know it._

_I am confused and disoriented. I've got nowhere to go. The road is over. Hell, I don't even know where or what the dn road is anymore._

_I'm scared._

_Am I supposed to be happy? Am I supposed to be glad that you survived when you probably beg for death as a salvation every single second?_

_I'm scared of what else will come._

_Should I like seeing the one that I love in such a perverse torment?_

_... I had to leave. I had to leave the room, I had to leave you, Roy._

_I'm sorry._

_You were in such pain...my eyes couldn't see it anymore. My heart couldn't take it anymore._

_I could feel how it broke. I felt your pain in my heart, it was too much for me._

_I could not bear watching you trying to make a sound, while more and more tears rolled down your face as you overstrained yourself._

_I have never even seen a single tear drip off your eyes. Now I'm being confronted with a never-ending river._

_I'm scared by that._

_You were always so strong; you were my strong, fiery Roy._

_How you always held me in your arms, so tightly, so confidently. So sure of yourself._

_I would lean against you, and you would protect me from the world._

_And then you would tell me that you loved me in that special pitch of voice._

_You would invent such ridiculous names to flatter me; they would roll off your tongue like silk. I would always rebuke you because of that, but now I remember how much I loved it._

_How much I loved your voice, and what you could do with it. Seduce, deceive, attract, reassure, lie... I miss this. All of it._

_My heart starts to scream as I notice that the memory of the former Roy starts fading already. I try to strive against it, but I know that he is gone forever._

_I destroyed him._

_Everything is my fault._

_You nearly died because of me... because of my selfishness._

_I should have never let Ike kiss me, never. Under no circumstances._

_'Let Ike kiss me'... That sounds so passive, as if it were Ike's fault. The last thing I want to do is blaming him._

_I should have never __kissed__ Ike._

_...I'm not even crying. Why aren't I crying? Roy lost his voice. He's suffering terrible agonies, not to mention that he's completely traumatized. What cruel bastard am I not crying over that? What monster am I to keep a straight face and just walk out of that room with Roy in it without any word?_

_I never thought a broken heart would feel so... cold. I expected it to sting and burn, but it's nothing but a dull ache. My heart is frozen. It hurts, and what hurts the most is that it won't let me express my pain. It feels so... dead, unreal. As if it didn't want to believe how hurt it actually is. As if it would never be able to love again._

_It scares me._

_~*~*~ _

He closed the book and hid it again, sitting back on the bed and resting his chin on his knees. 'Time' was irrelevant to him, he had no idea about how much of it had passed since he had finished his last sentence, but when he focused on the room again as he noticed Ike coming in, it was already very dark. The cold moon shining dimly into the room was the only source of light.

With a worried frown, Ike immediately turned on the light switch.

''Marth?'', his deep voice echoed throughout the room as he walked in slowly, still weak from the blood transfusion. As expected, there was no reaction coming from the prince.

''Marth...'', he repeated, unsure if he was allowed to approach him or not. The way Marth was sitting on the bed with his arms wrapped around his legs defensively, as if they were a castle that protected him from harm, was indeed a sign to just leave him alone.

However, Ike came closer despite Marth's refusing posture.

Once he was within reach, Ike tried to gently caress Marth, but he just turned his head away.

''Don't touch me. I'm disgusting.'', he murmured, his voice almost as dry as the feelings inside of him. Honestly, they resembled a desert of hurt and misery.

Ike quickly pulled his hand away, but kept looking into Marth's eyes. Even though he had always thought they were beautiful, he now didn't find them magnificent at all. He had seen Marth happy, sad, angry... all of those emotions had a beauty of their own, but this emptiness Marth had inside of his eyes right now, it was... hurtful. There was no soul in there, it looked bitter. _Disgusting_.

''You're not.'', Ike mumbled. _Automated_, simply _used_ to trying to make Marth feel better, even if it meant not saying what he was thinking. Being nice to Marth, it was just something that he _had to do. _Not something that he _contemplated_. Hence, there wasn't much feeling put into his words.

_'You're not.' _Just what anyone would say. That alarmed Ike. Probably for the first time, he questioned his love for the prince.

Marth snorted disparagingly. He knew the truth. All he wanted was hearing it from Ike's own mouth. He needed confirmation, so that he could condemn himself once and for all. ''I know what you REALLY think of me, Ike.''

''Huh?'', the other man looked bewildered.  
''You think that I'm a disgusting whore. It's true. Just say it.'', the sarcasm was dripping from his voice like smeary oil, and it was something that just didn't fit Marth at all; it made him seem bitter, pessimistic – but Marth _couldn't_ hold back, he just _loathed_ himself so much right now.

''You're a bitch, Marth!'', the once noble prince cried out, ''You ARE disgusting, Marth. I HATE you. I HATE YOU SO MUCH, YOU SLUT!!!'', he shouted, his heart started to beat faster with every insult he threw at himself. It made him feel so good, because he deserved no better.

''Come on, Ike, SAY IT, you goddamn coward!'', he was gasping for air now, the curses were poisoning his throat. Ike looked terrified. He couldn't move an inch, he just stared at Marth with total fear.

''Insult me! Hit me! Punish me!'', Marth yelled as he hyperventilated. His hands were clenched to fists, he gritted his teeth, but his eyes remained empty, even if there were tears coming out of them.

''I'm a fucking whore!! An unfaithful, dirty bitch! Just SAY it already! Why don't you say anything, Ikey!? Come on, you bastard, punish me! Or am I unworthy of your anger!? Is that it!?

_Answer me!!_ What's wrong with you, Ike, are you _**mute**_?!''

Pause.

Marth's torrent of words stopped as he realized what exactly he had just said.

Ike's scared expression changed into one of pity, and he covered his mouth with the back of his hand to prevent himself from sobbing. He knew about Roy, and he knew that his voice was gone forever.

Marth stared blankly at the white sheets beneath him, the horrifying image of Roy squirming with pain on the bed reappearing inside of his head, and he was just sitting here, unable to take Roy's pain away, and unable to give him his voice back.

He remembered how Roy would try to scream, just to let out at least _some_ of the anguish, but all that would come out were pained, little breaths. Marth remembered all that, and suddenly started to laugh.

It was a bitter, dry laugh. To Marth, it felt like it was the right thing to do. To just _laugh_ at all this. He was the reason for it, everything was his fault. It amused him. It was just so ironic, so messed up, so unbelievably cruel. Marth raised his head, still laughing insanely, and faced the ceiling.  
''Is it a joke?!'', he yelled at no one in particular, ''Am I supposed to fucking laugh, you son of a bitch?!'' He giggled as loudly as he could.

''Are you happy now?'', he screamed, still laughing uncontrollably, ''Are you done?! Is there anything else you wanna do? Maybe you want to cut off my... fucking arms or... push Ike off a bridge? Oh, how about you... putting all of us... into a giant mixer to tear us to pieces instead? That would make things easier, right?!''

Marth laughed madly at his own sarcasm. His thoughts were chaotic. Everything appeared to be spinning, and he couldn't stop seeing those weirdly colored spots once again. He had lost all control of himself. Beads of sweat were forming on his brow, and his breathing was short and raspy.

All of a sudden, the laughter turned into loud coughing, and Marth fell forward. His face hit the mattress, and he sobbed as he failed to sit himself up again.

''Ma... Marth...'', Ike stuttered, still terribly frightened by Marth's strange behavior. His own hands were shaking, but it was nothing compared to the violent tremor of Marth's entire body. Carefully, Ike managed to roll Marth onto his side so that he could breathe. A long, agonized moan followed that action.

''It's SO hot...'', Marth groaned, tugging at his clothes, trying to tear them off himself. Ike gasped with shock as he noticed that Marth was soaked with sweat. This room was freezing cold!

''I'm melting...'', Marth whispered hoarsely and pulled his shirt halfway up, revealing his bare skin.

Ike blushed crimson, feeling guilty for staring at Marth like that when he was clearly not being himself.

''N- No, Marth'', he mumbled, pulling the shirt down again with his eyes closed to prevent himself from looking.

''Ah!'', Marth gasped as he felt Ike's icy hand brush against his hot stomach, and flinched at the awkwardness of the cold.

''I... **hate** you!'', he yelled again in protest, trying to punch Ike or at least push him away. ''Y- You...! I... I- Ike you... filthy bastard! I...t- told you... don't touch me!!'', Marth screamed loudly, ''I **hate** myself!!''

Before Ike could react or do anything to prevent it from happening, Marth raised his hand to slap himself across the cheek, pleased with the hurtful sound. He wanted to do that again, but this time, Ike was faster. He quickly grabbed Marth's wrists and pressed him onto the bed, but the prince struggled against him frantically.

''NO!!!'', he shouted, his voice was breaking like crazy at that point.

''Ssh... Marth, calm down, it's okay!'', Ike attempted to soothe him, but it was useless, ''Marth!''

**''Let me go!''**, he demanded, thrashing around violently. By now, it was clear to Ike that trying to bring Marth to his senses again was actually impossible. He needed help. The doctor's help, to be precise. Ike could hardly restrain him anymore.

**''Doctor Mario!!''**, he screamed at the top of his lungs, silently praying that he would be heard. Holding Marth was like trying to keep a wild horse from running off into the prairie, seeking its freedom.

Luckily, it was a matter of seconds until Mario came into the room, not in need for explanations. Since the prince's outburst was so loud that it could probably be heard in the entire mansion, he had already prepared a sedative shot for Marth. He was quick to inject him with that. Marth didn't even notice the pain in his arm as the liquid was forced into his tensed vein. His screams started to fade, and the faces around him began to blur as they went quiet, and he was sent to sleep.


End file.
